Portable systems and methods for adjusting the composition of a beverage

ABSTRACT

The systems and methods provide a container assembly comprising: a container having a known storage capacity for storing a liquid; an additive dispensing assembly, the additive dispensing assembly dispensing variable, non-zero quantities of one or more additives into the liquid stored in the container; one or more vessels that each contain one of the additives, of the one or more additives, to be dispensed into the liquid; and a gas dispensing assembly, the gas dispensing assembly releasing a gas into the liquid stored in the container, and the gas dispensing assembly including: an onboard gas tank; a valve assembly; and a gas outlet, and the valve assembly controlling flow of gas from the onboard gas tank, through the valve assembly, and to the gas outlet so as to output the gas into the liquid; and wherein the valve assembly, to perform the controlling the flow of gas, is movable between: an open position, in which flow of gas is allowed to flow from the onboard gas tank to the gas outlet; and a closed position in which the flow of gas is prevented to flow from the onboard gas tank to the gas outlet.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This subject matter of this application is related to U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/179,709, filed Jun. 10, 2016, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

The subject matter of this application is related to U.S. applicationSer. No. 14/960,109, filed Dec. 4, 2015 the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

The subject matter of this application is related to U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/694,659, filed Sep. 1, 2017, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

The subject matter of this application is related to U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/862,206, filed Jan. 4, 2018, the entire disclosure of whichis hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND

Portable refillable bottles and other containers used for water andother beverages are widely used and are important for health andhydration. Such bottles and containers are used with increasingfrequency to consume functional ingredients, such as, for example,energy, protein, and sleep supplements. However, one limitation of suchbottles and hydration containers is that the consumable contents remainconstant and unchanged except for changes in quantity as the contents(frequently, but not exclusively water) are consumed and subsequentlyreplenished.

Other problems and limitations exist with known bottles.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The systems and methods provide a container assembly comprising: acontainer having a known storage capacity for storing a liquid; anadditive dispensing assembly, the additive dispensing assemblydispensing variable, non-zero quantities of one or more additives intothe liquid stored in the container; one or more vessels that eachcontain one of the additives, of the one or more additives, to bedispensed into the liquid; and a gas dispensing assembly, the gasdispensing assembly releasing a gas into the liquid stored in thecontainer, and the gas dispensing assembly including: an onboard gastank; a valve assembly; and a gas outlet, and the valve assemblycontrolling flow of gas from the onboard gas tank, through the valveassembly, and to the gas outlet so as to output the gas into the liquid;and wherein the valve assembly, to perform the controlling the flow ofgas, is movable between: an open position, in which flow of gas isallowed to flow from the onboard gas tank to the gas outlet; and aclosed position in which the flow of gas is prevented to flow from theonboard gas tank to the gas outlet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects, features, advantages, and characteristics ofthe present disclosure will become more apparent to those skilled in theart upon consideration of the following Detailed Description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying claims and drawings, all of which forma part of the present disclosure. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an example high-level hydrationecosystem with gas recharge base according to one or more embodimentsdescribed herein.

FIG. 2A illustrates a beverage container assembly in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 2B is a cross section view of a beverage container assembly inaccordance with one or more additional embodiments.

FIG. 3 illustrates a view of a dispensing assembly with a beveragechamber housing removed and with additive vessels in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 4A illustrates a bottom view of the dispensing assembly with a basecover removed and with additive vessels in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 4B illustrates a bottom view of the dispensing assembly with a basecover removed and with additive vessels removed in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 5A illustrates an isometric perspective view of an additivecontainer in accordance with one embodiment in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIG. 5B illustrates a cross section cutaway view of an additivecontainer in accordance with one embodiment in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIG. 6 illustrates a cutaway cross section of the dispensing assemblyshowing the operation of a pumping mechanism for an additive containerin accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate a cutaway cross section of the dispensingassembly showing the operation of a pumping mechanism for an additivecontainer in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate views of a drive mechanism for actuating areceptacle and associated piston of a pumping mechanism in accordancewith one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an elevation view of the drive mechanism withthe receptacle in a starting position and in a withdrawn position,respectively, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 10 illustrates a cross section of an internally threaded toothedring engaged with a threaded extension of a pump housing in accordancewith one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 11A-11C illustrate three different cross-sectional cutaway viewsof the dispensing assembly 213.

FIGS. 12A-12B illustrate isometric and cutaway views of a removable capin accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 13 illustrates a cutaway view of a pumping mechanism in accordancewith one embodiment.

FIG. 14A illustrates a cutaway view of a receptacle of the embodiment ofFIG. 13, but shown from a different perspective rotated 90 degreesaround a vertical axis in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIGS. 14B and 14C illustrate a seal placed in a shoulder portion of thereceptacle that serves a vacuum breaker function as an additivecontainer is withdrawn from the receptacle in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIGS. 15A-15D illustrate different configurations of containers, vesselsor pods for liquid additives that can be used in accordance with variousembodiments.

FIG. 16 illustrates a simplified positive displacement pumping mechanismthat can be used with various actuation mechanisms in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a hydration system or system, inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 18 is a top perspective view of a refill station the same as orsimilar to that of FIG. 17, in accordance with at least one embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 19 illustrates a top perspective view of a dispensing assembly withthe beverage chamber housing 315 removed, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 20 illustrates a bottom perspective view of the dispensing assemblywith a base cover removed and with the housing cover removed, inaccordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 21 is a perspective expanded view showing the valve assembly, inaccordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 22 is a schematic cross-sectional view showing further details ofthe valve assembly, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 23 is an expanded perspective bottom view of the containerassembly, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 24 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the station engagementassembly of the bottle or container assembly 300, in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 25 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the station engagementassembly (of the container assembly 300) engaged with the containerassembly docking station, with valves closed, in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIG. 26 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the station engagementassembly (of the container assembly 300) engaged with the containerassembly docking station, with valves opened, in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIG. 27 is a further schematic cross-sectional diagram of the poppetvalve of the container assembly, in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 28 is a schematic cross-sectional diagram of a further poppetvalve, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 29 is a top perspective view of a container assembly dockingstation, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 30 is a bottom perspective view of a refill tank, in accordancewith at least one embodiment.

FIG. 31 is a top perspective view of a refill tank docking station, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 32 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the station engagementassembly (of the refill tank docking station) engaged with the refilltank docking station, with valves closed, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 33 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the station engagementassembly (of the refill tank docking station) engaged with the refilltank docking station, with valves open, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 34 is a schematic cross-sectional view along line 34 of FIG. 21showing the gas release valve closed, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

FIG. 35 is a schematic cross-sectional view along line 34 of FIG. 21showing the gas release valve fully opened, in accordance with one ormore embodiments.

FIG. 36 is a schematic cross-sectional view along line 34 of FIG. 21showing the gas release valve partially opened, in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

FIG. 37 is a schematic cross-sectional view of a further refill station500 in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 38A is a perspective view of a dispensing assembly with “duckvalve” for dispensing of gas, in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 38B is a perspective view of a further dispensing assembly with“duck valve” for dispensing of gas, in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

FIG. 39 is a perspective view of a “donut-shaped” onboard gas tank, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 40 is a perspective view of a “U-shaped” onboard gas tank, inaccordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 41 it is a flowchart showing a process to refill an onboard gastank or canister, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing additional features of a hydrationsystem 600, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a computerprocessing portion of the system, in accordance with one or moreembodiments FIG. 44 is a further flowchart showing processing performedby the computer processing portion of the system, in accordance with oneor more embodiments FIG. 45 is an illustrative graphical user interface(GUI), in accordance with one or more embodiments.

FIG. 46 is an illustrative data record, in accordance with one or moreembodiments.

The headings provided herein are for convenience only and do notnecessarily affect the scope or meaning of what is claimed in thepresent disclosure.

In the drawings, same reference numerals and acronyms have been used toidentify same or similar structure, components or functionality for easeof understanding and convenience.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DISCLOSURE

In the following description, references are made to various embodimentsin accordance with which the disclosed subject matter can be practiced.Multiple references to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” do notnecessarily refer to the same embodiment. Particular features,structures or characteristics associated with such embodiments can becombined in any suitable manner in various embodiments.

Various examples and embodiments will now be described. The followingdescription provides specific details for a thorough understanding andenabling description of these examples. One skilled in the relevant artwill understand, however, that one or more embodiments described hereinmay be practiced without many of these details. Likewise, one skilled inthe relevant art will also understand that one or more embodiments ofthe present disclosure can include many other obvious features notdescribed in detail herein. Additionally, some well-known structures orfunctions may not be shown or described in detail below, so as to avoidunnecessarily obscuring the relevant description.

In one or more embodiments, the disclosure provides a container assemblythat includes a gas dispensing assembly. The gas dispensing assembly canrelease gas into liquid stored in the container assembly. The containerassembly can include a container having a known storage capacity forliquid or beverage. The container assembly can also include an additivedispensing assembly. The additive dispensing assembly can dispensevariable, non-zero quantities of one or more additives into the liquidor beverage stored in the container. The container assembly can alsoinclude one or more vessels or additive vessels. Such additive vesselscan contain one or more additives to be dispensed into the liquid. Thegas dispensing assembly can include an onboard gas tank, a valveassembly, and a gas outlet. The valve assembly can control the flow ofgas from the onboard gas tank, through the valve assembly, and to thegas outlet. As a result, gas is input into the liquid or beverage storedor contained in the container assembly. The valve assembly can beprovided to control the flow of gas from the onboard gas tank into theliquid or beverage.

The valve assembly can be movable between an open position, in whichflow of gas is allowed to flow from the onboard gas tank to the gasoutlet, to a closed position in which such flow of gas is prevented orstopped.

FIGS. 2-16, and the description referring thereto, set forth variousfeatures of illustrative container assemblies of the disclosure. Variousfeatures are also described herein relating to gas dispensing in acontainer assembly. It is appreciated that various features of differentembodiments of the disclosure can be combined as desired.

The present disclosure generally relates to hydration systems, methods,and apparatuses. More specifically, aspects of the present disclosurerelate to a portable and non-portable hydration container thatperiodically fully or partially dispenses additives and/or gas into aliquid consumable or other solute within the container in continuouslyvariable volumes or concentrations.

One embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a portable,self-contained beverage apparatus comprising: a container assemblyhaving a known storage capacity for storing a consumable liquid; adispensing assembly disposed within the container assembly thatdispenses variable, non-zero quantities of additives into the consumableliquid stored in the container assembly, where the dispensing assemblyincludes a plurality of apertures structured and arranged to retainvessels containing the additives to be dispensed into the consumableliquid.

In at least one embodiment, the portable, self-contained beverageapparatus further includes a controller that controls the dispensing bythe dispensing assembly of the variable, non-zero quantities of theadditives into the consumable liquid stored in the container assembly.

In at least one embodiment, the controller of the portable,self-contained beverage apparatus controls the dispensing by thedispensing assembly to maintain the targeted concentration of at leastone of the additives in the consumable liquid stored in the containerassembly, wherein the controlling is based on tracked consumable liquidlevel and the quantity of the at least one additive.

In at least one embodiment, the portable, self-contained beverageapparatus further includes the vessels retained in the plurality ofapertures that contain the additives to be dispensed into the consumableliquid stored in the container assembly.

As described above, one problem of existing portable bottles and othercontainers is that the consumable contents contained in such bottles andcontainers remain essentially unchanged other than in their quantity.The utility of such bottles and containers may be greatly enhanced ifthe flavor, consistency, and/or the nutritional, chemical, gas, CO2(carbon dioxide), oxygen, or other make-up of the consumable liquidcould be altered over some period of time (e.g., hourly, daily, etc.)and/or according to some other cycle based on, for example, the needs ordesires of the user, in order to optimize the health and well-being ofthe user. For example, the consumable liquid may be enhanced with anenergy boosting supplement in the morning to facilitate alertness andfocus, with vitamin supplements throughout the day, and with a calmingnutritional supplement at the end of the day to facilitate qualitysleep. Such a daily cycle may be supplemented by an additional longerterm cycle of additives dispensed on a weekly, bi-weekly, etc., basis orsome other customized time-cycle. As well as nutritional supplements, itmay additionally be desirable to dispense other types of substances oradditives such as, for example, vitamins, flavorings, pharmaceuticals,and the like, into the contents of portable containers in order tofurther optimize the health, hydration, recovery, and other benefits toa user, athlete, or patient, for example.

Furthermore, mobile and wearable activity and fitness monitoringdevices, as well as remote applications, may communicate with and/orreceive data provided from portable bottles and other containers tocontrol and monitor liquid and/or additive consumption and to performother functions such as, for example, communicating a timely signal toportable and other containers to release all or a pre-defined amount ofan additive substance from one of the additive vessels into theconsumable contents of the container.

Furthermore, such data might modify the dispensing protocol of theadditive vessels. Data might function to recommend or otherwiseincentivize the discovery, purchase, and and/or consumption of theaforementioned additive vessels.

Since portable hydration containers may typically be filled in themorning and topped-off throughout the day as liquid is consumed, it isneither practical nor desirable to require that a user fill multiplecompartments of a container with multiple different consumable liquidsor mixtures for consumption throughout the course of the day. Therefore,a more practical and desirable solution is to sequentially dispense aselection, sequence or combination of different additives from one ormore additive vessels into a consumable liquid at the appropriate timein response to a signal from a mobile or wearable device, processor orapplication. Neither is it desirable that a user have to carry aroundseparate additive vessels and insert them into the hydration containerwhen needed at various times throughout the day. An illustrative exampleof such an additive delivery ecosystem is shown in FIG. 1.

A hydration system such as that illustrated in FIG. 1 provideselectrical, electromechanical, and electronic components to enable anumber of functions. For example, measuring, monitoring or identifyingthe amount of liquid in the container at any point in time, determiningwhen the container has been refilled and/or measuring the rate ofconsumption of the liquid consumable are desirable functions of such asystem and require sensing, processing, communication technology andelectronic components which may have to be in close proximity to theliquid or other substance within the container in order to monitor thequantity or level. The proximity and/or placement of the aforementionedsystems and/or devices is sensitive, in many cases, regardless ofwhether or not the system directly, indirectly, or inferentially obtainssuch information. Similarly, electro-mechanical components and/oractuators may be required to dispense an additive into the contents ofthe container.

To achieve desired consumption temperatures, or to maintain a desiredconsumption temperature, it may be desirable to refrigerate the liquidcontainer, in which case repeated and sustained exposure to lowtemperatures and humidity would be harmful to the electronic components.Though it may be desirable that these electronics components and sensorsbe in close proximity to the liquid container for functional reasons, itis also desirable that they be fully separable to enable thoroughcooling of the liquid container, as well as washing.

One or more embodiments of the present disclosure relates to aconsumable container having a dispensing module assembly with a numberof apertures into which the above described additive vessels can beinserted by a user. Each of these additive vessels can have a passiveRFID tag attached to the vessel. An RFID antenna can be mounted on thesurface of a dispensing module located on the central axis of theconsumable container and accesses data about the contents of theadditive vessel from the RFID tag.

Therefore, the methods, systems, and apparatuses of the disclosure arealso designed to access data about the contents of an individualadditive vessel. In accordance with at least one embodiment, the antennaand/or other read and/or write capable data modality is oriented in sucha way so as to necessitate only one system, as opposed to a staticmodality that might require a unique instance of the modality on eachunique aperture. One having ordinary skill in the art will recognizethat although a passive data system such as RFID may be ideal due to itspassive nature, read/write capability, and low-cost, that functionally,other methods could accomplish similar results, including but notlimited to physical key-based methods, or optical methods.

Another feature of the disclosure is to determine the geo-location ofthe user and determine whether the dispensing of additives or gas shouldbe adjusted based on some aspect or aspects of this location (e.g.,home, gym, office, etc.). One learned in the art will understand thatsuch data, working to inform or otherwise guide a dispensing system,could be directly extrapolated or indirectly inferred.

Another feature is to determine the speed of motion of the user anddetermine whether the dispensing of additives should be adjusted basedon this activity (e.g. walking, cycling, running). This data mightfurther operate to corroborate supporting data feeds, such as thoseprovided by wearable activity trackers and the like.

Another feature is to combine the user's location and the user's speedof motion to predict whether a user is indoors or outdoors and, ifoutdoors, to access weather, temperature and humidity data and adjustthe dispensing of additives according to the needs of thoseenvironmental conditions. Such contextual data associated with ambientconditions relevant to dispensing events and/or additive recommendationsor purchase does not necessarily need to relate to the user's physicalmovements however.

As will be described in greater detail below, the methods, systems, andapparatus of the present disclosure are also designed to presentinformation to a user regarding the additives consumed and/or remainingin the vessels inserted in the hydration container. For example, inaccordance with one or more embodiments, the portable container maydisplay (e.g., on a user interface screen of the container) informationor generate an alert to the user when one or more of the additivevessels inserted in the hydration container is, or will soon becomeempty. In another example, the container may be configured to predict afuture date when one or more of the additive vessels inserted in thehydration container will become empty. Such a feature serves torecommend and/or automate future purchases. Such a system might alsofunction to adjust or otherwise modify dispensing protocol to ensurethat the additive does not become depleted on or before a targeted time.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the methods, systems, andapparatus described herein may optionally include or becapable/configured to perform one or more of the following: correlatedepletion information of additive vessels with purchase history andprevious rate of consumption to ascertain when a user will run out ofsupplies of the additive vessel irrespective of whether they arecurrently inserted in the container; enable the user to orderreplacement additive vessels by adding to their shopping cart on aneCommerce site through some type of user action (e.g., pressing a buttonon the container, interacting with an associated application, etc.).

In accordance with at least one embodiment, the methods, systems, andapparatuses may be designed to provide for direct or indirectcommunication of an instruction from a central control application to aconsumable container. Such a direct or indirect communication may be,for example, an instruction to dispense an additive, may include adispensing schedule and/or protocol, or may indicate that an additive(e.g., medication, pharmaceutical, or the like) has, or has not, beendispensed by the dispensing apparatus within the container. Dataassociated with the dispensing event (or lack thereof) might also becollected and communicated directly or indirectly between the dispensingdevice and the aforementioned central control application. In accordancewith at least one embodiment, Bluetooth low energy may be used as theprimary transmission method of such data.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, data may be communicatedfrom a container that an additive (e.g., medication, pharmaceutical, orother additive) has, or has not, been added to the consumable contentsof the container; data may be communicated from a container that theconsumable contents of the container have been fully consumed, partiallyconsumed, or not consumed. Direct or indirect mechanisms might furthercorroborate or invalidate such information directly or inferentially(e.g. the user has dumped the contents, as opposed to properly consumingthem).

Also provided are a method and apparatus for the precise andcontinuously variable dispensing of a removable additive vessel throughthe use of a discretely adjustable piston or actuator, the keyadjustment variable being stroke length (and therefore displacementvolume) by the user, which then by the user's input (in the preferreddisclosure's use case, the user's finger) translates into a dispensingevent that is precise and repeatable. Passive electronics measuringwhich additive vessel, and what dispensing quantity, and how manydispensing events are initiated could log the user's consumptionactivity and behaviors.

Embodiments of some or all of the methods disclosed herein may berepresented as instructions embodied on transitory or non-transitoryprocessor-readable storage media such as optical or magnetic memory orrepresented as a propagated signal provided to a processor or dataprocessing device via a communication network such as, for example, anInternet or telephone connection.

Another feature of the methods, systems, and apparatuses describedherein relates to audio engagement processing. Another feature of themethods, systems, and apparatuses described herein relates tosituational processing. Another feature of the methods, systems, andapparatuses described herein relates to group engagement processing.Further scope of applicability of the systems, apparatuses, and methodsof the present disclosure will become apparent from the DetailedDescription given below. However, it should be understood that theDetailed Description and specific examples, while indicating embodimentsof the systems, apparatuses, and methods, are given by way ofillustration only, since various changes and modifications within thespirit and scope of the concepts disclosed herein will become apparentto those skilled in the art from this disclosure.

It is appreciated that any of the features described in this disclosureas relating to an additive, such as a nutritional additive, for example,can also be applied to gas, as may be desired. Any of the featuresdescribed herein relating to dispensing of an additive can also beapplied to the dispensing of gas, as desired. Any of the featuresdescribed herein as relating to control or monitoring, for example, ofthe dispensing of an additive can also be applied to the control anddispensing of a gas, as desired.

It is desirable for a portable hydration container or bottle to have,included within it, one or more separate additive vessels containingvarious additives that may be chosen and inserted within the hydrationcontainer by the user in various different combinations, such that someof the beverages, functional beverages, vitamins, pharmaceuticals, etc.,may be periodically dispensed into the liquid contents of the containerwhen required or desired, and consumed by the user. It is desirable fora portable hydration container or bottle to have, included within it,one or more on board gas tanks or gas containers so as to provide theability to selectively dispense gas into liquid contents of thecontainer.

Such a hydration apparatus or system may communicate with an application(e.g., mobile telephone application, computer program, etc.) thatcontrols and monitors the additive dispensing from the vessels, andadjusts or otherwise modifies the dispensing of those additivesaccording to real-time environmental and contextual variables. Hydrationsystems and containers such as those described herein also need to beperiodically washed or sterilized in order to maintain hygiene levelsand to avoid or eliminate cross-contamination between differentadditives. Furthermore, when a container assembly includes sensitiveelectronics, it is also beneficial to design the apparatus in such a waythat washing, cleaning, or sterilization, or cooling, can be carried outwithout undue risk of damage to the electronic components.

An amount of consumable within a portable hydration container of thedisclosure will vary over time as it is consumed. As such, the methods,systems, and apparatus of the present disclosure are capable of varyingand/or adjusting the amount of additive or gas to be dispensed into theconsumable in order to achieve or maintain a targeted (e.g., optimal) ordesired level of concentration of the additive (or additives) in theconsumable. In addition, the consumption behaviors of the user relatedto hydration and the consumption of additives and the like would benefitfrom tracking and level measurement to provide apparatus-level contextfor non-zero dispensing, but also for the overall tracking andrecommendation of additives and/or additive vessels, present and future.

Furthermore, since such hydration containers are portable and may becarried around to many different places, it would also be beneficial toa user if they could periodically re-order products from an online(e.g., eCommerce, and/or Mobile Application) website, and replenishtheir supplies of additives, vitamins, etc., directly from the containerin which they are used, or from an associated mobile device, at any timeand irrespective of the user's location. In addition, while hydrationcontainers such as those described herein are of considerable value toan individual user, a collection of such containers may also be used bya group of users with common interests, such as, for example, a sportsteam, patients in a medical facility or assisted-living home,participants in clinical trials of a drug, and the like. In suchinstances it may be of considerable additional value to control,monitor, or otherwise coordinate the dispensing of additives bothindividually and/or collectively, and/or to monitor the consumption ofconsumables and additives individually and/or collectively. Thefollowing description of examples and embodiments of the methods,systems, and apparatus of the present disclosure provides additionaldetails about many of the above features and functions.

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative block diagram of an overall ecosystem orsystem 10 within which one or more embodiments of the present disclosurehas application and/or may be implemented. FIG. 1 includes a containerassembly 100, generally but not necessarily portable, that may contain aconsumable (e.g., a liquid) into which liquid, powder, and/or otherforms of consumable additives may be dispensed from one or more separateremovable additive vessels 101. Data about the additives within eachadditive vessel 101 may be encoded within an RFID or similar active orpassive type tag 102 mounted on or otherwise attached to the additivevessel 101. Such data about the additives contained within the additivevessel or vessel 101 can be read from the RFID or similar type tag 102by, for example, an RFID or similar-type antenna that is a component ofthe container assembly 100. For example, in accordance with at least oneembodiment, the container assembly 100 may include an RFID antenna (notshown) that rotates around or that is positioned around a central axisof the container assembly 100 to individually and/or sequentially readdata from the additive vessels 101. The additive vessels 101 can beinserted in a circular arrangement around the central axis of thehydration container. There can be one or more than one additive vessel101. Data about the additives contained in the additive vessels 101, aswell as gas contained in a onboard gas tank, may be collected, analyzed,and/or communicated by the container assembly 100 (e.g., by a processorand/or other components of the container assembly 100), and madeavailable to one or more user devices 106, local data storage 105,remote data storage 107, and the like.

Such information may also be presented to the user using a display 111mounted on the container assembly 100 and/or using a display on the userdevice 106. Communications may be performed or provided between thevarious components of the system 10 over a network 108. The network 108may be provided using a cloud based architecture.

As described above, FIG. 1 shows system 10. FIG. 1 also shows a systemor hydration system 600. The system 600 can include a refill station500, a refill tank 530, and a container assembly 300. In addition to thevarious benefits and attributes provided by the system 10, the system600 can provide benefits and attributes associated with dispensing ofgas into liquid or beverage contained in the container assembly 300. Thesystem 600 can include features of the system 10 as desired. Furtherdetails are described below.

FIGS. 2A and 2B illustrate a beverage container assembly 200, inaccordance with at least one embodiment, that will be shown in furtherdetail in subsequent FIGS. 3-12 and described in the further descriptionthat follows. As will be understood by one skilled in the art, thevarious features and functionality described above and elsewhere in thisdisclosure can be applied, combined and used in conjunction with thecontainer assembly 200 in accordance with the various embodimentsdescribed below. The container assembly 200 may be of similar or sameconstruction as the container assembly 100 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 2A illustrates an isometric view while FIG. 2B illustrates a crosssection cutaway view of the beverage container assembly or containerassembly 200, in accordance with one or more embodiments.

The beverage container assembly 200 includes a beverage chamber housing214, which forms a portion of a chamber 230 to contain a beverage. Thebeverage chamber housing 214 can be configured with an open threadedbase that threads on to a top end of a dispensing assembly 213. A topportion of the dispensing assembly 213 can include a platform 217, whichcan form a bottom half or portion of the chamber 230 to contain thebeverage. The dispensing assembly 213 can house one or more containersof additives to be dispensed into the chamber 230, a dispensingmechanism configured to control the addition of the additives, andelectronics configured to control the dispensing mechanism. A removablebase cover 220 can be configured to thread on to and off of a bottom endof the dispensing assembly 213 in order to provide access so as toinsert and remove containers of additives. Consistent with thedescription above, each of these containers of additives will bereferred to below as an additive vessel 250 (see FIGS. 4A, 5A and 5B,for example).

As shown in FIG. 2A, the container assembly 200 includes a top end 201and a bottom end 202. It should be appreciated that the variousillustrative drawings of embodiments of the disclosure are shown in anupright orientation and in various illustrative drawings of embodimentsof the disclosure are shown in an upside down or inverted orientation.Accordingly, the labeling of top end and bottom end are provided forclarity.

The container assembly 200 can include a removable cap 212, which, inthe illustrated embodiment, seals a top opening of the beverage chamberhousing 214 to complete the chamber 230. The cap 212 can be configuredto thread or snap on to a top end of the beverage chamber housing 214.Referring to FIG. 2B, in one embodiment, the cap 212 includes acompressible bladder 231 formed of silicone or other suitable rubber ormaterial, that allows for deformation of the bladder so as toaccommodate the addition of liquid additives into the chamber 230 by thedispensing assembly 213. The cap 212 also includes an air passageway 232to allow air to escape from behind the bladder 231 so that the bladdercan compress to accommodate the addition of the liquid additives.

Referring to FIG. 2A, the dispensing assembly 213 can be furtherconfigured with a user interface 222, which can include a display 211and one or more user input buttons 216. In the illustrated embodiment ofFIG. 2, the display 211 includes five LEDs, with three LEDs in atriangle that can be configured to indicate selection of one of threeadditive vessels. Another LED can be configured to indicate a power onor wake up condition of the dispensing assembly, and yet another LEDthat can be configured to indicate that a dispensing of an additive tothe beverage chamber housing 214 has been selected. The LEDs may usespecific lensing or may be embedded behind a micro-perforated materialto abstract the user from the physical components of the LEDs. In oneembodiment, a single user input button can be configured as amulti-function button to perform different actions depending on theamount of pressure applied to it by the user, by duration of presses,sequence or pattern of presses, and/or by quantity of presses, forexample.

The button 216 can also be configured to accommodate partial or completedepression of the button, which can be differentiated by a perceptibledetent or click, for example. Such arrangement can provide furthervaried functionality. The user interface 222 can provide an arrangementfor the user to, for example, dispense an additive from an additivevessel or display the current battery level of the system and apparatus.

FIG. 3 illustrates a view of the dispensing assembly 213 with thebeverage chamber housing 214 removed.

A top portion of the dispensing assembly 213 includes an annular wallwith threads 240 that engage with matching threads on the beveragechamber housing 214. The top portion of the dispensing assembly 213 canalso include the platform 217 to form a base for the beverage chamberhousing 214 in order to contain the beverage within the chamber 230. Theplatform 217 can include one or more outlet ports 241 through whichadditives are added to the beverage in the chamber, and in theillustrated embodiment, three such ports are shown. In one embodiment,each port 241 can be sealed by a one-way valve 242 (e.g. an umbrellavalve of rubber or silicone) that permits one-way passage of a liquidadditive into the chamber.

As will be discussed below, each one-way valve 242 can form part of apumping mechanism 260 (FIG. 6) that injects liquid additives into thechamber. In one embodiment, the pumping mechanism 260 is a reciprocatingpositive displacement pump.

FIG. 3 also illustrates an ultrasonic fluid level sensor 218 disposed onor within the platform 217. In accordance with one embodiment, the fluidlevel sensor 218 uses “round trip time” for a reflected sound wave tomeasure the height of a fluid or water column within the chamber 230 andthereby infer fill volume.

FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate a bottom view of the dispensing assembly 213with the base cover 220 removed. FIG. 4A shows the ends of each of threeadditive vessels 250 that are threaded into three correspondingreceptacles or apertures 245 as shown in FIG. 4B. While the term“receptacle” is used in the description that follows, for the purpose ofconsistency with various embodiments described above, the receptacles245 can also be referred to as “apertures”.

It should be noted that FIG. 4A shows, near the vessels 250, a number ofsemicircular artifacts that could not be easily removed from anavailable CAD rendering. These artifacts do not form any part of theillustrated embodiment and should be ignored by the reader.

FIGS. 5A and 5B illustrate an isometric perspective view and a crosssection cutaway view of an additive vessel 250 in accordance with oneembodiment. FIG. 5A shows a top end 258 of the additive vessel 250 and abottom end 259 of the additive vessel 250, as such additive vessel wouldbe positioned in routine use of the container assembly, such as is shownin FIG. 2A. The additive vessel 250 can include a housing 251, which canbe cylindrical in shape to fit into a corresponding cylindrically shapedreceptacle or aperture 245. At a first end or proximal end, the housing251 can be covered with a threaded cap 252, which snaps onto the housing251 and the threads of which also engage with receiving threads in areceptacle 245 so as to lock the additive vessel 250 into place withinthe dispensing assembly 213. At a second end or distal end, the vessel250 includes a piston head 253 that includes a port 255 that is cappedby another one-way valve 256 (e.g. an umbrella valve of rubber orsilicone). The port 255 and one-way valve 256 function to permitadditive to flow in only one direction from the vessel 250, i.e. out ofthe additive vessel, and into a pumping chamber 261 of the pumpingmechanism 260 (FIG. 6).

Referring to FIG. 5B, a slideable plunger 257 is disposed within aninterior portion of the housing 251.

The interior of the housing 251 and the exterior of the plunger 257 canbe a matching cylindrical shape such that the plunger can slide alongthe length of the housing 251, from the proximal to the distal end ofthe housing, as additive contained within the housing is dispensed fromthe vessel. The plunger is preferably formed of soft plastic such asLDPE that seals against the interior of the housing and moves so that noair is allowed into the vessel 250 during dispensing of the additive.

FIGS. 6 and 7A-C illustrate a cutaway cross section of the dispensingassembly showing the operation of the pumping mechanism 260 for anadditive vessel 250. FIG. 6 shows an enlarged view of a portion of FIG.7B showing the pumping mechanism 260 in a partially actuated state. Asillustrated, the vessel 250 is threaded into the receptacle 245 suchthat the piston head 253 of the vessel 250 engages with a housing of thereceptacle to form or provide a piston 265. The piston 265 can slideback and forth within a pumping chamber 261 formed by a cylinder 262 ofa pump housing 264. As noted above, the piston head 253 includes aone-way valve 256 that permits flow from the vessel 250 into the pumpingchamber 261.

At an opposite end of the chamber 261 from the piston head 253, thesecond one-way valve 242 permits liquid additive to flow from thepumping chamber 261 into the beverage chamber 230 as the piston 265moves forward, i.e. downward as shown in FIG. 6, in the cylinder 262.

FIG. 7A shows the receptacle 245 and piston 265 in a starting positionand the plunger 257 of the additive vessel 250 in an initial positionprior to any additive being dispensed from a full additive vessel 250.As shown in FIG. 7B, the piston 265 is withdrawn, and the one-way valve242 at the outlet port 241 blocks fluid flow in the reverse direction,creating a vacuum which draws fluid from the additive vessel 250 throughthe one-way valve 256 into the pumping chamber 261. It should be notedthat in FIG. 7B, the plunger 257 has moved from its starting positionillustrated in FIG. 7A to accommodate fluid flow from the vessel 250into the pumping chamber 261. As shown in FIG. 7C, the piston 265 isdriven back to its starting position, compressing the fluid within thechamber 261 and forcing the fluid through the one-way valve 242 at theoutlet port 241 (see FIG. 3) and into the beverage chamber 230. Theone-way valve 256 blocks the flow of fluid from returning into thevessel 250. Positive pressure, accordingly, is produced in thiscompression stroke, dispensing the contents of the pump chamber throughthe outlet port 241 into the beverage chamber 230.

The volume dispensed during a single piston stroke can be modulatedlinearly by modifying the piston stroke length. Multiple piston strokescan be used to dispense larger quantities. By design, the volume of thepumping chamber can be configured to be as small as practically possiblewhen the piston 265 is in the starting position to avoid wastingadditive liquid when a depleted additive vessel is withdrawn from thereceptacle.

FIGS. 8A and 8B illustrate views of a drive mechanism 270 for actuatingthe receptacle 245 and associated piston 265 of the pumping mechanism260. FIG. 8A illustrates an internal perspective view of the dispensingassembly 213 without an outer cover. FIG. 8B illustrates an additionalinternal perspective view of the dispensing assembly 213, with structureremoved, to better illustrate certain aspects of the drive mechanism270. As illustrated, each receptacle 245 and its associated piston 265(not visible in FIGS. 8A-B) is moved down and up by an internallythreaded toothed ring 271. A set of internal threads 272 on eachinternally threaded toothed ring 271 engage with a threaded extension276 (FIG. 9B) of the pump housing 264. Each internally threaded toothedring 271, can be driven by a gear 273, which in turn can be driven by anoptional gearbox 274, which in turn is driven by an electric motor 275.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an elevation view of the drive mechanism withthe receptacle in a starting position (9A) and in a withdrawn position(9B). As the toothed ring 271 rotates, the internal threads 272 causethe toothed ring to rise and fall on the threaded extension 276 of thepump housing 264. The receptacle, which can be snapped into or adheredto the toothed ring 271, also therefore rises and falls with the toothedring, causing the piston 265 to move within the cylinder 262. Inaccordance with one embodiment, the threads on the toothed ring 271 andthe threaded extension 276 are a “fast” 4-start thread that cause thetoothed ring 271 to travel to full linear extension with 180 degrees ofrotation. The threads can be configured to have an ACME profile orsimilar.

FIG. 10 illustrates a cross section of an internally threaded toothedring 271 engaged with a threaded extension 276 (FIG. 9B) of the pumphousing 264.

FIGS. 11A-11C illustrate three different cross sectional cutaway viewsof the dispensing assembly 213.

FIGS. 12A-B illustrate isometric and cutaway views of the removable cap212. As discussed above with reference to FIG. 2, in the illustratedembodiment, the cap 212 seals a top opening of the beverage chamberhousing 214 to complete the chamber 230. The cap 212 can be configuredto thread or snap on to a top end of the beverage chamber housing 214.The cap 212 includes a compressible bladder 231 formed of silicone orother suitable rubber, that allows for deformation of the bladder so asto accommodate the addition of liquid additives into the chamber 230 bythe dispensing assembly 213. The cap 212 also includes an air passageway232 to allow air to escape from behind the bladder 231 so that thebladder can compress to accommodate the addition of the liquidadditives. As shown in FIGS. 12A-B, the bladder 231 can be configuredwith a dimpled dome shape that yields an approximately linear resistanceto deformation.

FIG. 13 illustrates a cutaway view of a pumping mechanism 280 inaccordance with one embodiment.

Similar to the embodiments discussed above with reference to FIGS. 2-12,an additive vessel 281 is received in a receptacle 282, which engageswithin a pump housing 283. Two one-way valves similarly work togetherwith a sliding piston and cylinder to pump additive liquid through apumping chamber. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 13, however, thereceptacle 282 can be actuated manually, by a user grasping andwithdrawing the receptacle from the pump housing 283, or by anothermechanical means.

The receptacle 282 is withdrawn against pressure of a spring 284, whichis biased to press the receptacle back to its start position, such thatwhen the receptacle is released, any additive fluid drawn into thepumping chamber is then automatically ejected into the beverage chamber.

FIG. 14A illustrates a cutaway view of the receptacle 282 of theembodiment of FIG. 13, but shown from a different perspective rotated 90degrees around a vertical axis. The receptacle 282 includes a tab 285that can be used either manually or actuated by a mechanism in order towithdraw the receptacle against the tension of the spring 284 from thepump housing 283. FIG. 14A also shows the additive vessel 281 removedfrom the receptacle 282.

FIGS. 14B and 14C illustrate a seal 286 placed in a shoulder portion ofthe receptacle 282 that serves a vacuum breaker function as the additivevessel 281 is withdrawn from the receptacle. Once the additive vessel281 is withdrawn even a slightest amount, the vessel no longer contactsthe seal 286 and therefore air is allowed to pass into the pumpingchamber area as the vessel is withdrawn. If no air were allowed to passinto the pumping chamber, the action of withdrawing the vessel oradditive vessel would create a vacuum that would suck additive fluid outof the vessel and into the now open pumping chamber.

FIGS. 15A-D illustrate different configurations of additive vessels,containers or pods for liquid additives that can be used in accordancewith various embodiments. FIG. 15A illustrates an airless or non-ventedrear load vessel with a rigid tubular side wall. The additive vessel ofFIG. 15A is similar in function to the vessel 250 illustrated in FIGS.5A-B, with a plunger 257 that moves to prevent air from entering thevessel.

FIG. 15B illustrates an airless front load vessel with a rigid tubularside wall. FIG. 15C illustrates a collapsible bag or sachet enclosedwithin an outer container. The collapsible bag makes the plungerunnecessary. FIG. 15D illustrates a vented additive vessel, which allowsair to pass back into the vessel to take the place of pumped additivefluid. A two-way valve 290 allows additive fluid to pass out of thevessel through a center portion of the valve, while air is allowed toenter the vessel through ports 291 around the periphery of the valve andunder an umbrella portion of the valve.

FIG. 16 illustrates a simplified positive displacement pumping mechanismthat can be used with various actuation mechanisms in accordance withvarious embodiments.

One benefit of the foregoing described positive displacement pumpconfigurations is that when the additive vessel is withdrawn and whenthe beverage chamber housing is removed from the dispensing assembly allparts of the pumping mechanism become visible and accessible forcleaning. The pumping chamber is accessible through the receptacle andonly a one-way umbrella valve, for example, sits in the port between thepumping chamber and the platform which is otherwise also accessible forcleaning. A one-way umbrella valve can be easily removed and cleaned orreplaced.

As noted above, the various features and functionality of theembodiments described above with reference to FIGS. 2-12, and furtherwith respect to FIGS. 13-16, can be combined as desired. In general,various features and functionality of the embodiments described hereincan be combined and used in conjunction with various features andfunctionality of other embodiments.

For example, the dispensing assembly 213 illustrated in FIG. 3 can befurther configured with an attachment sensor that monitors whether thebeverage chamber housing 214 is threaded onto the dispensing assembly213 before a dispensing event occurs. An attachment sensor can replaceor supplement a lid sensor and checks can be performed before initiatinga dispensing event. Each additive vessel can be configured with an RFIDtag. In the various embodiments of FIGS. 2-16, each vessel can beconfigured with its own separate pumping mechanism 260.

Various features and aspects of hydration systems of the disclosure aredescribed above. In accordance with at least some embodiments, asdescribed above in conjunction with FIG. 1, a hydration system of thedisclosure can include gas dispensing in conjunction with dispensing ofadditives. FIG. 17 is a perspective view of a hydration system or system600, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. Asshown in FIG. 17, the hydration system 600 includes a refill station500. The refill station 500 can include a container assembly dockingstation 550 and a refill tank docking station 520. The containerassembly docking station 550 can engage with a container assembly 300.The refill tank docking station 520 can engage with a refill tank 530.When both the refill tank 530 and the container assembly 300 are engagedwith the refill station 500, gas can be transmitted or pass from therefill tank 5302 the container assembly 300. The refill tank 530 caninclude a pressure indicator 531 that indicates pressure within therefill tank 530. Such pressure within the refill tank 530 in turnreflects an amount of gas that is still left in the refill tank 530.

The refill station 500 can include a housing 503 of the refill station500. The housing 503 can include a platform top 501′ and a platformsidewall 502. The housing 503 can also include a station bottom. Theplatform top 501′ can be a structural member that includes a platformsurface 501. The refill tank docking station 520 can be provided in oron the platform surface 501. The container assembly docking station canalso be provided in or on the platform surface 501.

The refill station 500 can be provided with a station computer processorsystem 510. The station computer processor system 510 can performvarious functions including monitoring the status of the refill station500 and interfacing with a user. Relatedly, the refill station 500 caninclude a display interface or user interface 511. The user interface511 can display various information regarding the status and operationof the refill station 500. The user interface 511 can be controlled byand/or interface with station computer processor system 510. Furtherdetails are described below. The refill station 500 can be powered by ACpower, such as utilizing a power cord 507. The refill station 500 can bebattery-powered.

In some embodiments, the refill station 500 can be unpowered, i.e., notuse battery or AC current.

As shown in FIG. 17, the container assembly 300 is mounted or engagedwith the container assembly docking station 550. The container assembly300 can be similar in structure and functionality to the containerassembly 200 described above and herein. The container assembly 300 caninclude any of the features of the container assembly 200 as may bedesired. The container assembly 300 can include a computer processorsystem 301 that includes a suitable database or other computer memory.The computer processor system 301 can be provided with computer readableinstructions to perform the various operations and/or functionality asdescribed herein.

As shown in FIG. 17, the container assembly 300 can include a beveragechamber housing 315, a base cover 320 and a housing cover 325. Thehousing cover 325 can be positioned between the beverage chamber housing315 and base cover 320. The housing cover 325 can be provided withvarious user interface features, such as buttons or lights. Any numberof user interface features can be provided so as to afford desired usercontrol of functionality and so as to effectively control the status ofthe container assembly 300 and the hydration system 600 in general. Anadditive button 313 and a gas button 314. In accordance with at leastone embodiment of the invention, a user can press the additive button313 so as to dispense additive, from an additive vessel or vessel, intoliquid contained in the container assembly 300. The user can press thegas button 314 so as to dispense gas, from an onboard gas tank, into theliquid contained in the container assembly 300. In manner as describedabove, the container assembly 300 can include pod indicator lights 311.The pod indicator lights 311 can be provided to represent or show whichpod is selected to dispense an additive. For example, each of the podindicator lights 311 can be associated with a respective pod, i.e.additive vessel, in the container assembly 300. When a user presses theadditive button 313, the selected pod (as indicated by one of the podindicator lights 311) can dispense the desired additive. The particularpod that the user wishes to select can be selected, by the user, througha predetermined sequence of presses of the additive button 313, forexample. It is appreciated that the disclosure is not limited to thebuttons, lights, and/or other user interface devices shown in FIG. 17.

Rather, other user interface arrangements, features or functionality maybe utilized. The interface lights 312 can provide the user with variousstatus information regarding the bottle.

Additionally, a user may interface with the container assembly 300,which contains the computer processor 301, utilizing another userdevice, such as a smart phone or cell phone. Each of the containerassembly 300, the refill tank 530, and the refill station 500 can beprovided with computer processor systems that include suitable memory ordatabases. Further, each of the container assembly 300, the refill tank530, and the refill station 500 can exchange, communicate, or transmitdata to another of such components.

FIG. 18 is a top perspective view of a refill station 500 the same as orsimilar to that of FIG. 17, in accordance with at least one embodimentof the invention. In FIG. 18, the refill tank 530 and the containerassembly 300 have been removed. Accordingly, FIG. 18 shows furtherdetail of the refill tank docking station 520 and the container assemblydocking station 550. It is appreciated that the spatial arrangement ofthe platform surface 501, the refill tank docking station 520, thecontainer assembly docking station 550, the user interface 511, andother features of the refill station 500 can be varied in size,interrelationship, relative positioning, and other attributes asdesired. The particular size and other structure of the station 520 canbe varied based on the particular refill tank 530 to which the refilltank docking station 520 will be engaged with or mated with. Also, theparticular size and other structure of the container assembly dockingstation 550 can be varied based on the particular container assembly 302which the docking station 550 will be engaged with or mated with.

The container assembly docking station can engage with the containerassembly 300 in a non-concentric or non-centered relationship. In otherwords, engagement flange or other engagement member, which engages withthe container assembly docking station 550 can be off-center of thecontainer assembly 300. Such off-center arrangement may be needed ordesired so as to provide for a desired spatial positioning of othercomponents in the container assembly 300. Accordingly, it may be desiredto provide an inscribed line or other indicia 559 on the platformsurface 501 so as to show a user the desired position at which thecontainer assembly 300 can be placed upon the platform surface 501.Relatedly, indicia on the platform surface 501 can be provided thatmatches with corresponding indicia on the container assembly 300. Suchmatching indicia can be provided so as to assist or ensure that thecontainer assembly 300 is correctly placed upon the platform surface501. For example, such matching indicia can include respective arrows orother marks that are to be matched, by the user, when placing thecontainer assembly upon the platform surface 501.

FIG. 19 illustrates a top perspective view of a dispensing assembly 602with the beverage chamber housing 315 removed, in accordance with one ormore embodiments. As shown in FIG. 19, the dispensing assembly 602 is inan upright orientation or in a normal use orientation. Accordingly, alower end 321 of the bottle or container assembly 300 is shown at thebottom of FIG. 19. As shown, the dispensing assembly 602 includes thebase cover 320 and the housing cover 325. The housing cover 325 can beremovable so as to afford access for maintenance of the containerassembly 300. The base cover 320 can be removable, by a user, so as toprovide access for cleaning the container assembly 330. As shown in FIG.19, the housing cover 325 can be provided with various user interfacefeatures, such as buttons and lights.

The dispensing assembly 602 can include an additive dispensing assembly308 and a gas dispensing assembly 400. The additive dispensing assembly308 includes various structure associated with dispensing of additives.In the arrangement of FIG. 19, the additive dispensing assembly 308 canhouse or include two removable additive vessels. With the functionalitydescribed above, respective additive in the two additive vessels can bedispensed through respective additive outlet ports 341. The additiveoutlet ports 341 can include an additive one-way valve 342. Each of theone-way valves 342 can allow additive to be dispensed, but preventliquid from entering into the additive outlet ports 341.

As shown in FIG. 19, the dispensing assembly 602 also include a gasdispensing assembly 400. The gas dispensing assembly 400 can include agas output assembly 420. The gas output assembly 420 can include a gasoutlet port or gas outlet 421. Additionally, the gas output assembly 420can include a gas one-way valve 422. The gas one-way valve 422 can beprovided to allow gas to pass out of the gas outlet 421 but preventliquid from passing into the gas outlet 421. The gas one-way valve 422can be of same or similar structure to the additive one-way valve 342.The gas one-way valve 422 can be of different structure relative to theadditive one-way valve 342.

In the arrangement shown in FIG. 19, there are two additive outlet ports341, which correspond to two additive vessels, and a single gas outletport 321. It should be appreciated that the number of outlet ports canbe varied as desired. For example, and other arrangement might includeone additive outlet port and two gas outlet ports. Further, the outletports 341, 321 are arranged in a triangle shape as shown in FIG. 19.However, the invention is not limited such arrangement. The outlet ports421, 341 can be provided on a dispense platform 217. The dispenseplatform 217 can be flat in nature or can be curved. The dispenseplatform 217 can form a bottom extent or surface of the interior volumeof the container assembly 300 that holds liquid. The dispense platform217 can be provided with one or more indicia 423 that can be provided toidentify a particular outlet port as distinct from another outlet port.In particular, the indicia 423 can be utilized to identify the gasoutlet port 421. In some embodiments of the invention, the gas one-wayvalve 422 can be of different structure so as to afford distinction inand of itself.

The dispense platform 217 can be provided in a recessed portion that isdefined by a cylindrical wall that includes threads 340. The threads 340can provide engagement arrangement or mechanism to engage with thebeverage chamber housing 315. Other engagement arrangement or mechanismscan be utilized such as a friction fit, snap fit, or other arrangement.

FIG. 20 illustrates a bottom perspective view of the dispensing assembly602 with a base cover removed and with the housing cover 325 removed, inaccordance with one or more embodiments. Accordingly, FIG. 20 shows thedispensing assembly 602 in an inverted orientation in contrast to FIG.19 that shows the dispensing assembly 602 in an upright orientation.Accordingly, FIG. 20 shows a lower end 321 of the bottle or containerassembly positioned up, with the upper end 322 positioned down.

FIG. 20 shows various components of the dispensing assembly 602. Thedispensing assembly 602 can include two additive vessel housings 351.Each of the additive vessel housings 351 can include or house arespective additive vessel. In manner as described above, additive fromeach of the additive vessels can be dispersed into liquid contained inthe container assembly 300. Respective drive mechanisms 370 can beprovided to actuate or effect dispensing from the additive vessels.

As shown in FIG. 20, the dispensing assembly 602 can include variousstructural platforms, connectors, fasteners, support posts, and otherstructure. In particular, the dispensing assembly 602 can include anupper support platform 318 and a lower support platform 317. The lowersupport platform 317 can be positioned below or lower than the uppersupport platform 318. Additionally, the dispensing assembly 602 caninclude a bottom support platform 316. Each of the platforms 316, 317,318 can provide structural support and integrity to the dispensingassembly 602.

The bottom support platform 316, at the bottle lower end 321, can beprovided with an engagement collar 451. The engagement collar 451 canencircle or enclose a valve 440 of the gas intake assembly 439.

Further details of the valve 440 and related features are describedbelow, such as with reference to FIG. 24. The engagement collar 451 canbe of similar structure to the adjacent additive vessel housings.

As shown in FIG. 20, the upper support platform 318 can support acomputer processor system 301. The computer processor system 301, whichcan include or be associated with suitable databases or computer memory,can control or provide for operation of the container assembly 300.Various wires or other conductive paths (not shown) can be utilized soas to provide connectivity between the computer processor system 301,various motors or other drive mechanisms of the container assembly 300and/or other components of the container assembly 300. Such wires orother conductive paths can be in the form of insulated wires that arerouted between components. Such wires or other conductive paths can beintegrated into one or more components of the container assembly 300.

The arrangement of FIG. 20 also shows additional features of the gasdispensing assembly 400. The gas dispensing assembly 400 can include theonboard tank or onboard gas tank 401. As described below, the onboardgas tank 401 can be filled from an external source. In particular, theonboard gas tank 401 can be filled through engagement with the refillstation 500.

FIG. 20 also shows features of a valve assembly 410. The valve assembly410 can be provided to control the release of gas from the onboard gastank 401 into liquid that is contained in the container assembly 300.The valve assembly 410 can include a drive motor 411, a gearbox 412, anda gas release valve 413.

Additionally, the gas release valve 413 can be coupled or connected tosuitable piping or hose so as to provide flow of gas from the onboardgas tank 4012 the gas release valve 413, as well as from the gas releasevalve 413 to the gas outlet port 421. Accordingly, the dispensingassembly 602 can include a valve outlet pipe 424. The valve outlet pipe424 can provide flow of gas from the gas release valve 4132 the gasoutlet port 421. Accordingly, the valve outlet pipe 424 can pass throughthe lower support platform 317. Further details are described below,such as for example with reference to FIG. 22 as shown in FIG. 20, andexterior surface of the onboard gas tank 401 can be configured in shapeand look to be of similar appearance to the additive vessel housings351. The additive vessel housings 351 can be constructed of suitableplastic, for example. On the other hand, it may be desirable toconstruct the onboard gas tank 401 with metal—so as to provide neededstructural strength to contain the enclosed gas.

FIG. 21 is a perspective expanded view showing the valve assembly 410,in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown in FIG. 21, thearrangement is in an inverted or upside-down position. As describedabove, the valve assembly 410 can include a drive motor 411, a gearbox412, and a gas release valve 413. A valve intake pipe 426 conveys gasfrom the onboard gas tank 401 to the gas release valve 413. The gasrelease valve 413 can, through actuation of the drive motor 411 and thegearbox 412, be selectively adjusted from a closed position to an openposition. The motor with gearbox 412 can afford “fine-tuning” of the gasrelease valve 413 so as to effectively control flow of gas from theonboard gas tank 401 to the gas outlet port 421, i.e. so as to bedispensed into the liquid or beverage of the bottle, i.e. of thecontainer assembly 300. Accordingly, the gas release valve 413 can beopened a very small amount so as to allow a very limited or small flowof gas. On the other hand, the gas release valve 413 can be opened alarger amount if a larger amount of gas flow is desired. In manner asdescribed further below, such gas flow can be controlled by user input,including direct user input such as depressing gas button 314, viaprogramming of the container assembly 300 is performed by the computerprocessor 301, or may be controlled in some other manner. Instead ofdrive motor 411, a lever 411′ can be mechanically attached to the valve13 and be physically manipulated (by the user) so as to control thevalve 413, as further described below.

As described above, flow of gas between the gas release valve 413 andthe gas outlet port 421 can be provided by a valve outlet pipe 424. Thevalve outlet pipe 424 can include a lower pipe portion 424L and an upperpipe portion 424U. The distinction between the lower pipe portion 424Land the upper pipe portion 424U can be demarcation of the lower supportplatform 317. Relatedly, the lower support platform 317 and otherstructural features or components of the dispensing assembly 602 canprovide support for pipes, hoses, conduits, or other passageways thatare utilized to convey the gas from the tank 401, to the gas releasevalve 413, and (if the valve is open) to the gas outlet port 421.

As shown in FIG. 21, support posts 319 or other support features can beprovided between the upper support platform 318 and the lower supportplatform 317.

FIG. 22 is a cross-sectional view showing further details of the valveassembly 410, in accordance with one or more embodiments. It isappreciated that FIG. 22 shows structure of the container assembly 300in the upright position, in contrast to FIG. 21 that shows structure ofthe container assembly 300 in the inverted or upside-down position.

The dispensing assembly 602, and in particular the valve assembly 410,can include drive motor 411. The drive motor 411 can include motordriveshaft 417. The motor driveshaft 417 can drive a gearbox 412. Inturn, the gearbox 412 can drive or actuate the gas release valve 413.The drive motor 411 in conjunction with the gearbox 412 can provide a“geared down” or “geared up” arrangement that may be desirable toeffectively control the gas release valve 413. In particular, a geareddown arrangement may be desirable for small or finite adjustment of thegas release valve 413. However, in other embodiments of the disclosure,the gearbox 412 can be omitted with the drive motor 411 directlyconnected to the gas release valve 413.

As shown in FIG. 22, the onboard gas tank 401 includes an onboard tankinterior volume 403. The interior volume 403 can contain gas underpressure. For example, the gas in the onboard gas tank 401 can be CO2(carbon dioxide). However, the systems and methods of the disclosure canwork with other gases. For example, the systems and methods of thedisclosure can work with oxygen in the onboard gas tank 41.

Accordingly, the hydration system 600 of the disclosure can provide forcarbon dioxide enriched beverage, oxygen enriched beverage, or beverageenriched with another gas as may be desired.

As described above, in operation of the container assembly 300, gas inthe interior volume 403 can be under pressure. As a result, gas can flowout of the interior volume 403 into the valve intake pipe 426. In thesituation that the gas release valve 413 is in an open position, the gascan then flow through the gas release valve 413 into the lower pipeportion 424L of the valve outlet pipe 424—and then into the upper pipeportion 424U of the valve outlet pipe. Thereafter, gas flows out of thegas one-way valve 422 and into the liquid or beverage contained in thecontainer assembly 300.

As also described above, the gas one-way valve 422 can be provided onthe upper support platform 318.

The upper support platform 318 can include the dispense platform 217, asshown in FIG. 19, for example.

As shown in FIG. 22, the container assembly 300 also includes the lowersupport platform 317. The lower support platform 317 can serve tosupport the onboard gas tank 401. In particular, the lower supportplatform 317 can support the onboard gas station 401 in conjunction withthe bottom support platform 316. The onboard gas tank 401 can beconnected or attached to the lower support platform 317 and othercomponents utilizing suitable fasteners, adhesive, heat bonding, orother attachment mechanisms. In similar manner, the drive motor 411 canbe connected to the gearbox 412; the gearbox 412 connected to the gasrelease valve 413; and the gearbox 412 connected to the lower supportplatform 317. The container assembly 300 can include straps, flanges,brackets, or other mechanical arrangements were devices so as to supportcomponents of the container assembly 300.

FIG. 23 is an expanded perspective bottom view of the container assembly300, in accordance with one or more embodiments. Accordingly, FIG. 23shows a lower end 321 of the bottle or container assembly 300.

In accordance with at least some embodiments of the invention, theonboard gas tank 401 can be filled or refilled utilizing an externalsource. To provide this functionality, the container assembly 300 caninclude a gas intake assembly 439. The gas intake assembly 439 canengage with or meet with the refill station 500. In particular, the gasintake assembly 439 can engage with the container assembly dockingstation 550. Accordingly, the gas intake assembly 439 can becharacterized as including a station engagement assembly 450. Thestation engagement assembly 450 provides for filling of the onboard gastank 401 with gas through engagement with the container assembly dockingstation 550.

The gas intake assembly 439, and specifically the station engagementassembly 450, can include engagement collar 451. The engagement collar451 can include a collar inner surface 452. The collar inner surface 452can be provided with one or more engagement mechanisms 453. For example,the engagement mechanism can be a threaded arrangement or be part of atwist lock coupling arrangement.

As shown in FIG. 23, the engagement collar 451 can be supported upon thebottom support platform 316.

The portion of the bottom support platform 316, that is disposed withinthe confines of the engagement collar 451, can include an inner surface454. The inner surface 454 can be circular in nature and correspond tothe surrounding engagement collar 451. The inner surface 454 can supporta valve 440 that is positioned in or extends through an aperture 455. Inrefilling of the onboard gas tank 401, gas flows through the aperture455 and into the onboard gas tank 401.

In the example of FIG. 23, the valve 440 includes a poppet valve 440.The poppet valve 440 is one example of a one-way valve that can beutilized. As noted above, FIG. 23 shows a lower end 321 of the containerassembly 300. Accordingly, in FIG. 23, the container assembly 300 orbottle 300 is inverted. In operation or engagement of the stationengagement assembly 450, the container assembly 300 is in the uprightposition and can be positioned upon the container assembly dockingstation 550. The valve 440, in this particular example poppet valve 440,includes engagement flange 442. The engagement flange 442 can include acircular flange or disc that is engageable with a member of the refillstation 500. The valve 440 can include a compression spring or otherbiasing member 444. The compression spring 444 can be supported betweenthe inner surface 454 and the engagement flange 442. In this embodiment,since the spring 444 is in compression, the spring biases the valve 440into a closed position. Further details are described below withreference to FIG. 24 FIG. 24 is a cross-sectional view of the stationengagement assembly 450 of the bottle or container assembly 300, inaccordance with one or more embodiments. As shown in FIG. 24, thearrangement is in an upright position, such as in use of the containerassembly 300. In accordance with at least some embodiments of theinvention, the station engagement assembly 450 can be a component of thegas intake assembly 439. The station engagement assembly 450 can includea valve 440. The valve 440 can include a poppet valve. The valve 440 caninclude an engagement flange 442, a valve body 441 and a seal flange443. The valve can also include a spring 444, such as a compressionspring.

The valve 440 can be provided on a wall of the onboard gas tank 401 soas to provide for filling of the tank 41. In the example of FIG. 24, thevalve 440 is positioned on the onboard tank bottom wall 404.

Alternatively, the valve 440 could be positioned on an onboard tank sidewall 402. The onboard gas tank 401 can include the onboard tank bottomwall 44, the onboard tank side wall 402, and an upper wall 407.

Such walls can collectively form or define an interior volume 403 of theonboard gas tank 41.

The onboard gas tank 401 can be provided upon the bottom supportplatform 316. The onboard gas tank 41 can be provided on an opposingside to and/or aligned with the inner surface 454. However, such spatialinterrelationship is not needed. As shown in FIG. 24, an aperture 455can be provided to allow gas flow from an exterior gas source into theinterior volume of the gas tank 43. The valve 440 can selectively sealor unseal the aperture or hole 455.

The aperture or hole 455 can extend through the bottom wall 404 of theonboard tank and through the bottom support platform 316. Accordingly,the aperture 455 can include a first aperture 455A of the onboard tankbottom wall 404 and a second aperture 455B of the bottom supportplatform 316. The valve 440 can be biased to a closed position by spring444. Specifically, the spring 444 can engage with the engagement flange442 and the bottom support platform 316 and exert force, due tocompression of the spring, so as to bias the valve 440 downward as shownin FIG. 24. As a result, the valve 440 is biased to a closed positionsince seal flange 443 is brought into engagement with the onboard tankbottom wall 404.

However, force can be exerted against the engagement flange 442, in anupward direction as shown in FIG. 24, so as to open the valve 440. Suchopen disposition results, for example, when the station engagementassembly 450 is engaged with the container assembly docking station 550.Such engagement is shown in FIG. 25 and FIG. 26.

FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the station engagement assembly 450(of the container assembly 300) engaged with the container assemblydocking station 550, with valve closed, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. In the arrangement of FIG. 25, the station engagementassembly 450, by physical positioning by a user, has been engaged withthe container assembly docking station 550, but not to the extent so asto open valve 440. On the other hand, FIG. 26 depicts engagement so asto open valve 440.

The container assembly docking station 550 is shown at a high level inFIG. 18. FIG. 25 shows further details of the container assembly dockingstation 550. The docking station 550 can include engagement collar 551.The engagement collar 551 can be provided upon the platform surface 501.The engagement collar 551 can include one or more engagement mechanisms552. The engagement mechanisms 552 can be in the form of threads, angledengaging in locking surfaces, or other engagement mechanisms. As shownin FIG. 25, the engagement mechanism 552 of the engagement collar 551 isengaged with engagement mechanism 453 of the container assembly 300.

The container assembly docking station 550 can include valve 555. Thevalve 555 can include or be in the form of a poppet valve, for example.The valve 555 can selectively open or close an inlet aperture 560 thatis provided in the platform surface 501.

Relatedly, the inlet aperture 560, in the platform surface 501, canprovide access or be connected to an interior space 504. The interiorspace 504 can be filled with a pressurized source of gas that, upon thepoppet valve 555 being open, will pass into the interior volume 403 ofthe onboard gas tank 401. Such passage of gas can be provided due to thepressure differential between the interior space 504 and the interiorvolume 403. As used herein, “interior space” and “interior volume” bearthe same meaning and have been used interchangeably. Accordingly, uponboth the valve 555 and the valve 440 being open, and assuming a pressuredifferential between the interior space 504 and the interior volume 403,gas will flow out of the interior space 504, through an interior spaceor interior volume created by the attached engagement collars 451, 551,and into the interior volume 403. Flow of gas will occur until pressureis equalized between the interior space 504 and the interior volume 403.

It is appreciated that mechanisms or arrangements can be utilized so asto limit amount of gas that is allowed to escape or be lost inconjunction with connecting the station engagement assembly 450 with thecontainer assembly docking station 550. For example, suitable O-rings orwashers constructed of rubber or elastomeric material, for example, canbe utilized so as to provide or assist with a gas tight seal. Forexample, and O-ring or washer can be provided at a top edge of theengagement collar 551 that interacts with the bottom support platform317. In such arrangement, the engagement collar 551 can be provided tobe taller than shown in FIG. 25—so as to engage with the bottom supportplatform 317.

Relatedly, it is appreciated that the height or size of either theengagement collar 551 or the engagement collar 451 can be adjusted so asto accommodate for other structure of either the container assembly 300or the refill station 500. For example, the container assembly 300, asdescribed above, can include additive vessels or pods that extenddownwardly from the bottom support platform 317. The height of theengagement collar 451 and/or the engagement collar 551 can beconstructed so as to match with the distance that the additive vesselsextend down. Such arrangement can result in or provide a desirable“seating” of the container assembly 300 upon the refill station 500.

The valve 555 can include a body 556, a seal flange 558, and engagementflange 557. The body 555, as shown in FIG. 25, can include opposing endsupon which the engagement flange 557 and the seal flange 558 ourrespectively positioned. The valve 555, the valve 440, as well as othervalves described herein can be constructed in similar manner in part orin whole. The valve 555, the valve 440, as well as other valvesdescribed herein can include similar features as may be desired.Further, it is appreciated that a feature described in conjunction withone valve of the disclosure can be used in in other valve of thedisclosure as may be desired.

The valve 555 can also include a spacer collar 554 and compressionspring 561. The compression spring 561 acts against the spacer collar554 and the platform surface 501 so as to bias the poppet valve 555 intoa closed position, i.e. biased up as shown in FIG. 25. Upon theengagement collar 451 being screwed onto (or otherwise engaged onto) theengagement collar 551, the engagement flange 442 will contact with theengagement flange 557. As a result of this contact, both the valve 440and the valve 555 can be pushed to an open position. In other words,contact between the engagement flange 442 and engagement flange 557 canovercome the biasing force of the respective springs 444, 561 so as toforce the valves open.

Accordingly, FIG. 25 is a cross-sectional view of the station engagementassembly 450 (of the container assembly 300) engaged with the containerassembly docking station 550, with valve opened, in accordance with oneor more embodiments.

The structure 500 can be characterized as a “refill station” in thatsuch a structure provides for filling the onboard gas tank 401 with gas.The structure 500 might also be characterized as a “recharge station” inthat the refill station 500 “recharges” the onboard gas tank 403 withgas.

FIG. 26 is a cross-sectional view of the station engagement assembly 450(of the container assembly 300) engaged with the container assemblydocking station 550, with valve opened, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. As shown, the engagement collar 451 is screwed onto theengagement collar 551 a sufficient amount so as to open the valves 440,555. Upon the valves being open, a user may observe an audible sound(e.g. “pssst”) as gas flows from the interior space 504 into theinterior volume 403 of the onboard gas tank. At a point in theengagement that the valves 440, 555 are open, the engagement collar 451can be sufficiently engaged with the engagement collar 551 so as to begas tight. As a result, gas can be precluded from escaping into theenvironment.

FIG. 27 is a cross-sectional diagram of the poppet valve 440 of thedisclosure, in accordance with at least one embodiment. As describedabove, the poppet valve 440 can be utilized on the bottom of the onboardgas tank 401. As shown, the poppet engagement flange 442 can include aflange surface 445. The compression spring 444 can be provided upon anexert force between the flange surface 445 and the bottom wall 404. Uponsufficient pressure being applied to the poppet engagement flange 442,the force of the spring or compression spring 444 is overcome. As aresult, the valve is moved up as shown in FIG. 27, i.e., the valve ismoved to an open position. FIG. 27 also illustrates an arrangement inwhich the bottom support platform 317 includes an aperture 327 such thatthe valve 440 is not engaged with the bottom support platform 317.Rather, the valve 440 is only engaged with the bottom wall 44 of the gastank.

FIG. 28 is a cross-sectional diagram of a further poppet valve 440 ofthe disclosure, in accordance with at least one embodiment.

FIG. 28 illustrates a further poppet valve 440. The poppet valve 440includes poppet seal flange 443 with the seal flange surface 446. Thevalve 440 also includes poppet engagement flange 442. A compressionspring 444 surrounds a valve body 441. In the poppet valve of 440, thevalve is provided with a poppet travel control flange 447. The poppettravel control flange 447 is positioned below the bottom wall 404 of theonboard gas tank, in this example. The poppet travel control flange 447limits travel of the valve 440 up and down. A gap 448 is providedbetween the poppet travel control flange 447 and the seal flange surface446. Accordingly, travel of the poppet valve 440 up and down, as shownin FIG. 28, is limited. For example, such arrangement can be utilized inconjunction with the poppet engagement flange 442 interacting withanother poppet valve—so as to ensure that both poppet valves travel therequisite distance to open. The arrangement can prevent one poppet valvefrom “sticking” closed and the other poppet valve being opened or movedan excessive amount. In other words, the poppet travel control flange447 can help ensure that the poppet valve 440 travels an appropriatedistance between an open position and a closed position.

FIG. 29 is a top perspective view of a container assembly dockingstation, in accordance with at least one embodiment. The containerassembly docking station 550 can engage with the bottom of containerassembly 300 as described herein. Gas can be flowed from a refill tank,through a interior space, volume, or cavity 504, for example, to refillthe container assembly 300. As shown, the container assembly dockingstation 550 includes a poppet valve 555 with an engagement flange 557.The engagement flange 557 can engage with another valve assembly, on thecontainer assembly 300, so as to be pushed or moved to an open position.Alternatively, the engagement flange 557 can engage with a pin or postso as to be moved to an open position.

As shown in FIG. 29, the docking station includes an engagement collar551. The engagement collar 551 can include an outer sidewall 563. Theouter sidewall 563 can include an upper edge 553. One or more engagementmechanisms 552 can be provided on the outer sidewall 563. The engagementmechanisms 552 can include threads, angled flanges (as shown in FIG.29), other locking flanges, or other arrangements.

FIG. 30 is a bottom perspective view of a refill tank 530, in accordancewith at least one embodiment. The refill tank 530 can include refilltank sidewall 532 and refill tank bottom wall 543. The refill tanksidewall 532 can include a refill tank inner sidewall 532IS. Anengagement mechanism, such as an angled flange or threaded arrangement,can be provided on the refill tank inner sidewall 532IS. As describedbelow, the engagement mechanism 533 can engage with a docking station ona refill station 500. The refill tank 530 can also include a poppetvalve 535 or other valve arrangement. The poppet valve 535 can be openedso as to provide gas flow from the refill tank 530 into the refillstation 500. The refill station 500 can be provided with an internalpassageway or cavity that provides gas flow from the refill tank 530,through housing 503 of the refill station 500 (see FIG. 17 for example),and to an onboard gas tank or container that is “docked” to containerassembly 300. In some embodiments, the refill station 500 canaccommodate more than one refill tank 530 and can accommodate more thanone container assembly 300.

A suitable number of respective docking stations may be provided asdesired.

FIG. 31 is a top perspective view of a refill tank docking station 520,in accordance with at least one embodiment. The refill tank dockingstation 520 can be provided to dock or engage with the refill tank 530as shown in FIG. 30. The refill tank docking station 520 can be mountedon platform surface 501 of the refill station 500. The refill dockingstation 520 can include poppet valve 525 with engagement flange 527. Thepoppet valve 525 can engage with poppet valve 535 (of FIG. 30) so as toopen both poppet valves 525, 535. Poppet valve 525 can be biased to aclosed position by a biasing member such as compression spring 529. Therefill tank docking station 520 can include an outer sidewall 523 thatincludes engagement mechanism 522. The engagement mechanism 522 caninclude threads or an angled flange or flanges, for example.Accordingly, the circular flange 521 can engage with the refill tankinner sidewall 532IS of FIG. 30 so as to secure the refill tank 530 tothe refill tank docking station 520. Such engagement is illustrated inFIGS. 32 and 33.

FIG. 32 is a cross-sectional view of the station engagement assembly (ofthe refill tank docking station) engaged with the refill tank dockingstation, with valves closed, in accordance with one or more embodiments.In the disposition of FIG. 32, the refill tank 530 is partially engagedor screwed onto the refill tank docking station 520. However, theengagement is not yet sufficient so as to open valves 525, 535. On theother hand, engagement is sufficient to open such valves in thedisposition as shown in FIG. 33.

As further shown in FIG. 32, the tank poppet valve 535 includes sealflange 538 and engagement flange 537. Compression spring 539 biases thevalve 535 to a closed position. In such closed position, the seal flange538 is pressed against the refill tank bottom wall 543 so as to preventgas from passing through tank outlet aperture 544.

The refill station poppet valve 525 includes seal flange 528 andengagement flange 527. Compression spring 529 biases the valve 525 to aclosed position. In such closed position, the seal flange 528 is pressedagainst the platform surface 501 so as to prevent gas from passingthrough inlet aperture 519. However, as compared to the dispositionshown in FIG. 32, as the refill tank 530 is positioned closer and closerto the platform surface 501, the engagement flange 527 can contact theengagement flange 537. Positioning yet closer results in the engagementof the engagement flange 527 with the engagement flange 5374 pushing thevalves open against the biasing force of the respective springs. As aresult, tank outlet aperture 544 and inlet aperture 519 are opened so asto allow gas to flow from interior volume 541 of the refill tank 530into an internal cavity or passageway (of the refill station 500) andinto an onboard gas tank of a container assembly 300. FIG. 33 shows suchdisposition with valves 535, 525 both in an open state. The valves shownin FIG. 32 can utilize the poppet travel control flange 447, of FIG. 28,or other similar arrangement so as to limit travel of each of the valves525, 535. By limiting travel of the valves, such prevents one valve from“sticking” closed with another valve moving beyond what is needed toeffectively open. FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view of the stationengagement assembly (of the refill tank docking station) engaged withthe refill tank docking station, with valves open, in accordance withone or more embodiments.

In accordance with further aspects of the invention, FIG. 34 is across-sectional view along line 34 of FIG. 21 showing gas release valve413 closed, in accordance with one or more embodiments. As describedabove, the gas release valve 413 can control the flow of gas from anonboard gas tank in the container assembly 300 into liquid or beveragein the container assembly 300. Such arrangement is shown in FIG. 22, forexample. As shown in FIG. 34, the gas release valve 413 can includevalve housing 416. Valve intake pipe 426 can provide gas flow into thegas release valve 413 from an onboard gas tank 401. Valve outlet pipe424, and specifically lower pipe portion 424L, can provide gas flow outof the gas release valve 413 when the valve is open. Gas can flow fromthe lower pipe portion 424L to the upper pipe portion 424U and into aone-way valve, for example, so as to be dispensed into the liquid orbeverage in the container assembly 300.

To control flow of gas through the gas release valve 413, the valve 413can include a rotating valve insert 414. The rotating valve insert 414can be selectively rotated within valve housing 416 as actuated bygearbox driveshaft 418. The gearbox driveshaft 418 can be driven by amechanized system such as gearbox 412. The rotating valve insert 414 caninclude an insert passageway 415. FIG. 34 shows a disposition of the gasrelease valve 413 in which the insert passageway 415 is not aligned withthe valve intake pipe 426 or the lower pipe portion 424L. As a result,the valve 413 is closed and no gas is allowed to flow from the onboardgas tank 401 into liquid or beverage. However, with the disposition asshown in FIG. 35, the rotating valve insert 414 has been rotated suchthat the insert passageway 415 is aligned with the valve intake pipe 426and the valve outlet pipe 424. As a result, the valve is opened and gasis allowed to flow through the valve 413. Gas flow from the onboard gastank 401 through the gas release valve 413 (and into liquid in thecontainer assembly 300) can be provided by a pressure differential. Inother words, gas in the onboard gas tank 41 is under pressure and thusflows out through the valve 413.

FIG. 36 illustrates a further disposition of the gas release valve 413.As shown in FIG. 36, the gas release valve 413 is partially opened so asto allow limited gas flow. Accordingly, the gas release valve 413 can becontrolled both in degree that the valve 413 is opened as well as timeduration that the valve 413 is opened. The valve 413 can be “pulsed” oropened for short, quick durations of time. Control of the valve 413 canbe performed, for example, by computer processor system 301 either bydirect user control (such as by pressing a button) or by programmedcontrol, which may be interdependent with a dispense event of one ormore additives. For example, a gas dispense event can occur immediatelyafter an additive dispense event. Such can assist in mixing of adispensed additive.

FIG. 37 is a cross-sectional view of a further refill station 500 inaccordance with one or more embodiments. In particular, FIG. 37 is aschematic diagram showing a different arrangement for connection of agas source. In embodiments described above, a refill tank 530 wasengaged with a refill station 500. When a container assembly 300 wasalso engaged with the refill station 500, gas was allowed to flow fromthe refill tank 530, through an internal space, cavity, or passageway504 and into the onboard gas tank 401. Various valves were utilized tocontrol such flow of gas.

In the arrangement of FIG. 37, an alternative option is provided inwhich a refill tank 530 is not utilized in such manner. Rather, in thearrangement of FIG. 37, a refill station 500′ is provided with a supplypipe 570 with connection fitting 571. The supply pipe 570 withconnection fitting 571 can be attached to any source of gas as may bedesired. For example, such source of gas might provide carbon dioxide(CO2) or oxygen. The connection fitting 571 can be connected to anotherpipe that is in turn connected to a source of gas. The connectionfitting 571 can be connected to a refill tank. Additionally, theconnection fitting 571 could be replaced with structure similar torefill tank docking station 520 as shown in FIG. 32, for example.Accordingly, it is appreciated that the source of gas is not limited toa refill tank attached directly on a refill station. Additionally, asotherwise described herein, it is appreciated that various valves may beutilized so as to control flow of gas. The systems and methods of thedisclosure are not limited to the particular valves, including thedescribed poppet valves, as disclosed herein.

In the arrangement of FIG. 37, gas can flow from the supply pipe 570through the interior space 504, under pressure, and out (to a containerassembly 300 with onboard gas tank 401) through the refill tank dockingstation 520. In manner as described above and shown in FIG. 37, therefill tank docking station can include an engagement mechanism 552 andvalve 555. The engagement mechanism 552 can be a threaded or twist lockcoupling arrangement, for example. The valve 551 can be a poppet valve,for example. The refill tank docking station 520 can be mounted on aplatform surface 501 of the refill station 500′.

As described above, the refill station 500′ includes an interior space504 that communicates gas from the supply pipe 570 to the refill tankdocking station 520. Such interior space 504 is under pressure when gasis flowed therethrough. The interior space 504 can be provided ordefined by a tube structure, hose structure, baffles, membranes, wallsof the refill station or other structure as may be desired. The refillstation 500, such as is shown in FIG. 17, can also include an interiorspace 504 that provides gas flow from refill tank docking station 520 tothe container assembly docking station 550. It is appreciated that therefill station 500 or 500′ can include an interior space 514, as shownin FIG. 37, that is not pressurized.

Such interior space can include various components of the refillstation, such as station computer processor system 510 as shown in FIG.17. Relatedly, refill station 500′ include station bottom 505 that canserve to define interior space 514 of the refill station 500 prime. Inother embodiments, however, it is appreciated that the entire interiorstructure of a refill station can serve to be pressurized and convey gasfrom a source of gas to a container assembly 300.

FIG. 38A is a perspective view of a dispensing assembly with “duckvalve” for dispensing of gas, in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

More specifically, FIG. 38A shows a dispensing assembly 710 thatincludes a different one-way valve for outputting gas into liquid orbeverage contained in a container assembly 300. The dispensing assembly710 can include a housing cover 718 and user interface features.Dispensing assembly 710 can include a lower end 710L of the bottle orcontainer assembly 300. The dispensing assembly 710 can include anadditive dispensing assembly 711 and a gas dispensing assembly 713. Theadditive dispensing assembly 711 can include one or more additive outletports 712. Such ports can include one-way valves. The gas dispensingassembly 713 can include valve 714. Valve 714 can include a gas one-way“duck” valve, as such may be characterized. Such duck valve can includeelastic sides 715 and slit 716. The elastic sides 715 can be constructedof rubber, elastomeric, or other suitable material. The elastic sides715 can be constructed so as to bias slit 716 to a closed configuration.However, due to the elastic construction, slit 716 can be opened whengas flows out of the valve 714. In other words, the elastic sides 715can be opened by interior gas pressure so as to allow gas flow out ofthe duck valve 714. Once pressure is relieved, elastic sides 715 returnto their “natural” position or configuration so as to close slit 716,thus resulting in closure of the valve 714. Accordingly, FIG. 38Aprovides an example of a further valve that may be utilized in thesystems and methods of the disclosure.

As described herein, one-way valves may be utilized to dispense bothadditive and gas. Such one-way valve provides the ability for additiveor gas to flow out of the dispensing assembly 710 while preventingbeverage or liquid in the container assembly 300 from flowing back intothe dispensing assembly 710.

FIG. 38A is a perspective view of a further dispensing assembly 720 with“duck valve” for dispensing of gas, in accordance with at least oneembodiment.

The dispensing assembly 720 can include a housing cover 728 and userinterface features. Dispensing assembly 720 can include a lower end 720Lof the bottle or container assembly 300. The dispensing assembly 720 caninclude an additive dispensing assembly 721 and a gas dispensingassembly 723. The additive dispensing assembly 721 can include one ormore additive outlet ports 722. Such ports can include one-way valves.The gas dispensing assembly 723 can include valve 724. Valve 724 caninclude a gas one-way “duck” valve. Such duck valve can include elasticsides, as described above, and slit 725.

The elastic sides can be constructed of rubber, elastomeric, or othersuitable material. The elastic sides can be constructed so as to biasslit 726 to a closed configuration. However, due to the elasticconstruction, slit 726 can be opened when gas flows out of the valve724. In other words, the elastic sides 725 can be opened by interior gaspressure so as to allow gas flow out of the duck valve 724. Oncepressure is relieved, elastic sides 725 return to their “natural”position or configuration so as to close slit 726, thus resulting inclosure of the valve 724.

In the arrangement of FIG. 38A, the duck valve or other valve can bepositioned upon or extending from a surface of the dispensing assembly710. In the arrangement of FIG. 38B, the valve 724, which can be a duckvalve, is positioned at the end of a pipe extension 726. The pipeextension 726 can have a vertical component and a horizontal component.Such structure provides to direct output gas in a desired direction. Forexample, a desired direction might be towards an additive dispensingoutlet. Gas flow, in such manner towards an additive dispensing outlet722, may be beneficial or desirable so as to mix additive that is beingdispensed. The pipe extension 726 is not limited to the particulararrangement shown in FIG. 38B. Different shape piping, verticalextension, horizontal extension, or other curved or straight pipe, forexample, can be utilized so as to position valve 724 at a desiredposition and orientation.

FIG. 39 is a perspective view of a “donut-shaped” onboard gas tank, inaccordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 39 shows dispensingassembly 730 that contains or houses an additive vessel 731. Thedispensing assembly 730 includes a lower end 730L of the containerassembly. The dispensing assembly 730 can include a housing cover 732.The dispensing assembly 730 can include an onboard gas tank 733.

In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, an onboardgas tank 401 is described above as being in the shape of a cylinder.Such cylinder can be provided with a cylindrical outer wall, a top walland a bottom wall so as to define an interior space, volume or cavity inwhich pressurized gas can be stored. Gas can be flowed into the onboardgas tank 401 utilizing a valve arrangement as described above.

Gas can be flowed out of the onboard gas tank 41 through a valve intakepipe 426 as shown in FIG. 22, for example. It is appreciated that otherpiping, conduit, hose, or passageway arrangements can be utilized asdesired.

FIG. 39 shows a further embodiment relating to the shape of the onboardgas tank, i.e. onboard gas tank 733 as shown in FIG. 39. The onboard gastank 733 can be in the form of a “donut” or cylinder with an inner walland an outer wall. That is, the onboard gas tank 733 can include outerwall 734 and inner wall 735. An upper wall 737 and a lower wall can beattached to the outer wall 734 and inner wall 735 so as to define aninternal volume in which gas may be stored. Gas may be input into theonboard gas tank 733 utilizing a gas intake assembly 739. Gas may beoutput from the onboard gas tank 733 (and into liquid or beverage)utilizing a suitable arrangement such as shown in FIG. 22 and thatincludes valve intake pipe 426. Accordingly, FIG. 39 shows that theshape of the onboard gas tank 733 can be varied. The particular shapesof onboard gas tank 733 can be utilized in the situation that there isonly one additive vessel 731 contained in the particular containerassembly. The size and extent of the onboard gas tank 733 may be variedas desired or needed so as to allow for internal components of thedispensing assembly 730. The onboard gas tank 733, as well as the otheronboard gas tanks described herein, can be constructed of rugged, solidconstruction so as to withstand pressure as can be required.

FIG. 40 is a perspective view of a “U-shaped” onboard gas tank, inaccordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 40 shows a dispensingassembly 740 that includes a housing cover 742. The dispensing assembly740 includes lower end 740L. Accordingly, the dispensing assembly 740 isin an inverted or upside down position as shown in FIG. 40. Thedispensing assembly 740 includes additive vessel 741.

Additionally, the dispensing assembly 740 includes onboard gas tank 743.In this embodiment, the onboard gas tank 743 is in a U-shape. Theonboard gas tank 743 can include an outer wall 744, inner wall 745, atop wall, and a bottom wall so as to define an interior volume in whichto store gas. The shape of the onboard gas tank 743 can define anopening 746. The opening 746 can provide space for the additive vessel741 as well as for other components of the dispensing assembly 740 asmay be needed or desired.

The onboard gas tank 743 can be provided with a gas intake assembly 749by which the onboard gas tank 743 can be filled. Suitable outlet valvesor connections can be provided, such as is illustrated in FIG. 22 andvalve intake pipe 426.

FIG. 41 it is a flowchart showing a process to refill an onboard gastank or canister, in accordance with one or more embodiments. As shown,the process starts in step 800 and passes to step 801. In step 801, arefill tank, or other gas supply, is connected to a refill station. Suchmay be a manual operation performed by a user. Then, in step 802, a userplaces a bottle, i.e. a container assembly, on the refill station. Theengagement assembly of the container assembly is positioned over thecontainer assembly docking station of the refill station. Then, in step803, the user rotates the container assembly so as to attach theengagement assembly of the bottle to the docking station. Suchengagement might be performed utilizing angled engaging flanges orthreads. As the container assembly is engaged upon the containerassembly docking station valves can be opened to allow gas to flow intothe onboard tank of the container assembly. The valves can be poppetvalves. Valves can be provided in both the container assembly and therefill station. Then, the process passes to step 804.

Step 804 reflects that the container assembly can be removed from thecontainer assembly docking station at any time, in accordance with oneor more embodiments. It is appreciated the transfer of gas into thecontainer assembly can be relatively rapid. Once pressurize is equalizedbetween the gas supply source in the onboard tank of the containerassembly, the poppet valve of the container assembly can close inaccordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. Then, theprocess passes to step 805. In step 805, the bottle can be removed fromthe base receiving assembly with the onboard tank now filled.

FIG. 42 is a block diagram showing additional features of a hydrationsystem 600, in accordance with one or more embodiments. FIG. 42illustrates aspects of a computer processor system such as that shown inFIG. 20. Accordingly, the computer processor system 301 can be containedin bottle 300 as shown in FIG. 42 of the system 10. The computerprocessor system 301 can be in communication with any number of userdevices 106, the cloud 108, other systems and/or other networks. Thecomputer processor system 301, i.e. CPS 301, can include a databaseportion 305. The database portion 305 can contain any of a wide varietyof data utilized by or generated by the CPS 301. The CPS 301 can alsoinclude a communication portion 306 that provides communication. Asreflected at 301′, the CPS can perform a wide variety of processingrelated to the dispensing of additives and other processing as otherwisedescribed herein. Such processing is not detailed in FIG. 42. Inaddition, the CPS 301 can perform gas distribution processing.

Such is illustratively performed by a gas distribution processingportion 470. The gas distribution processing portion 470 can include agas trigger event monitor portion 471 and a gas distribution actuationportion 472. The portion 470 can detect various events of the bottle300. The portion 470 can then determine if a detected event triggers anaction item. The action item can then be performed by the gasdistribution actuation portion 472.

FIG. 43 is a flowchart showing processing performed by a computerprocessing portion of the system, in accordance with one or moreembodiments. More specifically, FIG. 43 illustrates processing steps inwhich the system performs processing to control dispersion of gas. Thesystem can be constituted by the CPS 301. As shown, the process startsin step 900 and passes to step 901. In step 901, the system performsprocessing to monitor for a trigger event.

Step 910 illustrates a trigger event is observed that user input isreceived that dictates a dispersion of gas.

For example, such user input might be constituted by pressing a buttonon the container assembly 300.

The trigger event might be an electrical pulse resulting from pressingsuch button or a switch that is associated with such button.Accordingly, in the situation of step 910, the user directly controlsthe dispersion of gas in the container assembly 300. As a result of ayes determination in step 910, the process passes to step 920. In step920, the dictated action is performed. In this situation, the dictatedaction might simply be the dispersion of gas into the beverage containedin the container assembly 300.

FIG. 43 also shows step 930. In step 930, the system monitors todetermine if there is a dispersion of additive event. For example, adispersion of additive event might be the activation of a motorassociated with one of the additive vessels, so as to dispense additive,or a detected signal associated with such dispense of an additive. As aresult of detection of such trigger event, the process passes to step940. In step 940, the system performs processing to determine if theevent is actionable to disperse gas. That is, the system determines if adispense of additive can be mapped or associated to a dispense of gas.Further details are described below with reference to FIG. 44.

FIG. 44 is a further flowchart showing processing performed by thecomputer processing portion of the system, in accordance with one ormore embodiments. The process of FIG. 44 starts in step 940. In theprocess of FIG. 44, the system determines if an observed event, such asthe dispensing of an additive, is actionable so as to dispense gas.After the process starts in step 940, the process passes to step 941. Instep 941, the CPS 301 retrieves event data the trigger theidentification of an actionable event. Then, in step 942, the CPS mapsthe event data to a data record that contains data regarding what actionto take for the event. Then, in step 943, the CPS determines if themapped to data (MTD) dictates a start time lapse.

Based on such processing, the CPS 301 sets actionable parameters. Then,in step 944, the CPS determines if the MTD dictates a duration ofpulses. Based on such determination, the CPS sets actionable parameters.Then, in step 945, the CPS determines if the MTD dictates a sequence ofpulses and/or a duration between pulses for the dispensing of gas. Basedon such processing, the CPS 301 sets actionable parameters. Then, instep 946, the CPS determines if the MTD dictates a strength of pulses.For example, the strength of pulses might be controlled by controllingan amount that the valve 413 (FIG. 22) is open.

After step 946, the process passes to step 947.

In step 947, the CPS 301 determines if the MTD dictates one or morecommunications that are to be output to the user. For example, suchcommunications might be lights, audio, or communication sent to theuser's cell phone, for example. Then, the process passes to step 948. Instep 948, the CPS performs a dispense of gas based on the gathered“action parameters”. That is, the CPS dispenses gas based on the datagathered in the processing of steps 943-947. Dictated communications mayalso be sent in conjunction with the processing of step 948. Then, theprocess passes to step 949. In step 949, the processing for the observedevent is terminated.

FIG. 45 is an illustrative graphical user interface (GUI) 4500, inaccordance with one or more embodiments. The GUI 4500 allows a user tocreate a gas dispense event. For example, the user might be presentedwith the GUI 4500 on his or her cell phone. Her cell phone can be inelectronic communication with the container assembly 300. Accordingly,information provided by the user, via the interface 4500, can becommunicated or downloaded to the container assembly 300.

The GUI 4500 allows a user to set a particular additive to monitor for agas dispense event. Illustratively, the additive 4546 might bemonitored. It is appreciated that the numerical reference to additivesare for purposes of illustration and such numerical indicia can bereplaced by a name of the additive, for user-friendliness. The additive4546 might correspond to ““whey” or “caffeine”, for example.Accordingly, in the situation of the GUI 4500, the additive that is setto monitor is additive 4546. By the selection of “yes” the user hasenabled the dispense of gas in conjunction with the dispense of theadditive 4546. Additionally, the user can set the lag time of the gasdispense after the dispense of the additive. In this case the lag timeis 0.1 seconds. This can be a time duration between when the system,such as the CPS 301 detects the dispense of an additive, and when thesystem actuates valve 413, for example, so as to release gas. The useris also provided the ability to set the duration of the gas release,here 0.02 seconds. The user is also provided with the ability to set thestrength of the gas release, here “low”. Functionality may also beprovided to vary a gas dispense event based on ambient conditions, suchas temperature or humidity, for example. Additional user interfacebuttons may be provided such as tap to save, return to prior dispenseevent, clear and start again, and create new gas dispense event, forexample.

FIG. 46 is an illustrative data record 4600, in accordance with one ormore embodiments. The data record 4600 corresponds, in part, to theinput information received via the GUI 4500 of FIG. 45. The CPS canaccess the data record 4600 upon a monitored event being determined. Forexample, upon a dispensing of the additive 4546, the CPS can access thedata record 4601. From such data record, the CPS can control the gasrelease event that is associated with the identified/detected release ofadditive 4546. The data record 4600 includes parameters of associatedgas dispense enable?, lag time, duration, and strength. It isappreciated that various other attributes and data may be included inaddition to that shown.

In accordance with one or more embodiments of the disclosure, ahydration system can comprise (A) a refill station, for refilling acontainer assembly with gas, the refill station including: (1) a refillstation housing; (2) a container assembly docking station provided onthe housing, the container assembly docking station including a firstengagement mechanism for engaging with a container assembly, and acontainer interface valve for dispensing gas from the refill station tothe container assembly; (3) a gas supply assembly that provides a sourceof gas to the refill station; and (B) the container assembly can beconfigured to engage with the container assembly docking station so asto flow gas from the refill station to the container assembly, and thecontainer assembly can include: (1) a container having a known storagecapacity for storing a liquid; (2) an additive dispensing assembly, theadditive dispensing assembly dispensing variable, non-zero quantities ofone or more additives into the liquid stored in the container; (3) oneor more vessels that each contain one of the additives, of the one ormore additives, to be dispensed into the liquid; and (4) a gasdispensing assembly, the gas dispensing assembly releasing a gas intothe liquid stored in the container, and the gas dispensing assembly caninclude (a) an onboard gas tank that includes a container fill valve,(b) a valve assembly; and (c) a gas outlet, and the valve assemblycontrolling flow of gas from the onboard gas tank, through the valveassembly, and to the gas outlet so as to output the gas into the liquid.The valve assembly, to perform the controlling the flow of gas, can bemovable between (i) an open position, in which flow of gas is allowed toflow from the onboard gas tank to the gas outlet; and (ii) a closedposition in which the flow of gas is prevented to flow from the onboardgas tank to the gas outlet.

The gas supply assembly can include a refill tank docking station, and arefill tank that is removably coupled to the refill tank dockingstation.

The refill tank can include a pressure indicator that indicates anamount of gas in the refill tank.

The refill tank can include a tank valve that is openable to release gasfrom the tank into the refill station housing; and the refill tankdocking station can include a tank interface valve that is openable toinput gas from the tank into the refill station housing.

Each of the refill tank docking station and refill tank can have arespective engagement mechanism that each serve to removably couple therefill tank to the refill tank docking station.

Each of the respective engagement mechanisms can be constituted by anangled wedge or threaded arrangement so as to connect the refill tankdocking station with the refill tank.

The tank valve can include a poppet valve and the tank interface valve,of the refill tank docking station, includes a further poppet valve.

The refill station housing can include a passageway through which gas iscommunicated from the tank interface valve to the container interfacevalve, and the container interface valve is openable so as to allow gasto pass from refill station housing.

Each of the container assembly and the container assembly dockingstation can have respective engagement mechanisms that each serve toremovably couple the container assembly to the container assemblydocking station.

The gas dispensing assembly can include a gas intake assembly associatedwith the onboard gas tank, the gas intake assembly including a secondvalve, of the hydration system, that provides for the onboard gas tankto be refilled when connected to the refill station housing.

The second valve can be a one-way valve, and an inlet to the onboard gastank can be positioned at a bottom of the container assembly.

The gas intake assembly can include an engagement collar for positioningthe container assembly on a refill station, and the engagement collarprovided with at least one engagement mechanism for securing thecontainer assembly to the refill station.

The at least one engagement mechanism can be at least one selected fromthe group consisting of (a) a threaded arrangement and (b) a twist-lockcoupling; and the valve is a poppet valve that is openable inconjunction with the container assembly being positioned upon the refillstation.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, a container assembly candispense additives and gas, the container assembly can include: (A) atangibly embodied computer processor, the computer processorimplementing instructions on a non-transitory computer medium disposedin a database, the database in communication with the computerprocessor; (B) a communication portion that interfaces between thecomputer processor and an electronic user device or other system; (C)the database; (D) a container having a known storage capacity forstoring a liquid; (E) an additive dispensing assembly, the additivedispensing assembly dispensing variable, non-zero quantities of one ormore additives into the liquid stored in the container; (F) one or morevessels that each contain one of the additives, of the one or moreadditives, to be dispensed into the liquid; and (G) a gas dispensingassembly, the gas dispensing assembly releasing a gas into the liquidstored in the container, and the gas dispensing assembly including: (a)an onboard gas tank; (b) a valve assembly; and (H) a gas outlet, and thevalve assembly controlling flow of gas from the onboard gas tank,through the valve assembly, and to the gas outlet so as to output thegas into the liquid. The valve assembly, to perform the controlling theflow of gas, can be movable between (a) an open position, in which flowof gas is allowed to flow from the onboard gas tank to the gas outlet;and (b) a closed position in which the flow of gas is prevented to flowfrom the onboard gas tank to the gas outlet. The computer processor canperform processing including: identifying an event experienced by thecontainer assembly; and based on such event, the gas dispensing assemblydispenses gas into the liquid stored in the container.

The event can be a push of a button provided on the container assemblyso as to control the additive dispensing assembly to release gas intothe liquid.

The event can be a user interfacing with the electronic user device soas to control the additive dispensing assembly to release gas into theliquid.

The event can be the additive dispensing assembly dispensing one of theadditives; or the user physically interfacing with the containerassembly; or the user interfacing with her electronic user device.

The computer processor can retrieve data, from the database regardingthe event that was identified and associates such retrieved data with adata record.

The data record can include information regarding action items and/orattributes of action items that the computer processor is to perform inresponse to observation of the identified event.

The action item and/or an attribute of an action item can be at leastone of duration of gas release, a sequence of pulses of gas release, aduration between pulses, strength of pulses regarding how much gas isreleased over a time, and timing of gas release.

The action item and/or an attribute of an action item can be a lag timebetween the observation of release of an additive and initiation ofrelease of gas.

The release of gas can be constituted by a release of CO2 (carbondioxide) and the release of carbon dioxide that results in a carbonatedliquid in the container assembly.

Various features of the invention are described above. It is appreciatedthat the disclosure is illustrative and not limiting. In embodimentsdescribed above, the refill station 500 is powered either with ACelectrical power or with battery power. However, the refill station 500could be constructed without power or power requirements.

As described above, the refill tank 530 is provided with a pressureindicator 531. The pressure indicator 531 could be analog or digital,for example. The pressure indicator 531 could function without power.

Additionally, the container assembly 300 and the refill station 500 caninclude pressure indicators. For example, the refill station 500 couldinclude a pressure indicator so as to indicate the pressure experiencedby the refill station 500. The container assembly 300 can include apressure indicator so as to indicate how much gas is left in the onboardgas tank 401.

In embodiments described above, the onboard gas tank 401 includes asingle interior volume, cavity, or space, for example. However, thedisclosure is not limited to such. The onboard gas tank 401 can includemultiple volume, cavity, or spaces. Additionally, embodiments of theinvention can include two or more onboard gas tanks 401, which could beprovided to contain different types of gas, for example. The two or moreonboard gas tanks 401 could be respectively filled utilizing off-centergas intake assemblies, such as is shown in FIG. 23. For example,embodiments described above is contained to additive vessels and oneonboard gas tank could instead include one additive vessel and twoonboard gas tanks.

In accordance with embodiments, the gas release valve 413, as shown inFIGS. 20-22, for example can be actuated with a motor, a drive motor,and electromechanical arrangement, or by manual manipulation of a user.Accordingly, the gas release valve 413 need not be motorized or power.For example, the gear box driveshaft 418 that is depicted in FIG. 34could, instead of being driven by a motor, be connected to a physicallever that is accessible by a user. The user could manipulate suchphysical lever so as to control whether gas is released and how much gasis released, for example. The physical lever and/or a housing of thecontainer assembly 300 could be provided with indicia or graduations soas to convey information to a user regarding what position of a lever orother mechanical operative device corresponds to which functionalityprovided by the container assembly. Illustratively, such indicia couldinclude numbers that reflect how far the valve 413 is open.

It should be appreciated that various seal rings, washers, O-rings,flanges, collars, threaded attachments, locking attachments, click lockattachments, twist lock couplings, sleeves, and other mechanicalarrangements, for example, can be utilized so as to provide structurerelied upon in practice of the disclosure.

The terms dispersion, dispensing, dispense, and other similar terms havebeen used herein to convey manipulation of a liquid or other material.

In accordance with embodiments of the disclosure, a computer processingsystem of the invention can monitor different users that interact withthe refill station 500 in refilling each users respective containerassembly 300. For example, electronic indicia or tagging can be utilizedsuch that the refill station 500 identifies which users bottle is beingrefilled on the refill station 500. Accordingly, communication betweenthe refill station 500 and the container assembly 300 can utilize anyknown communication. For example, communication between the refillstation 500 and the container assembly 300 can utilize NFC (Near-FieldCommunication) technology or protocols in communicating with each other.

Various patterns or schemes can be utilized such that the user caneffectively communicate with the container assembly 300, as may bedesired. For example, one push of a particular button could dictate tothe container assembly 300 that additive should be released, where as toquick pushes of the particular button could dictate to the containerassembly that gas should be released. Teachings of the aboveincorporated patent applications regarding user interface can beutilized in conjunction with the teachings described herein. Otherfeatures of the above incorporated patent applications can also beutilized in conjunction with the teachings described herein.

Embodiments of the disclosure, a computer processor of the containerassembly 300 may provide information to the user regarding metricsassociated with either gas or additives. For example, the computerprocessor can provide the user with information regarding how manycarbon dioxide discharges are left, i.e., before the user has to refill.Such processing might be based on the pressure that is left in theonboard canister or gas tank, as described above.

It is appreciated that any of the computer processors described hereinmay utilize and/or have access to suitable databases. Such databases canstore the various data utilized by or generated by the computerprocessors, for example.

Operation of the container assembly 300 may include inputting ambientconditions and affecting operations based on those ambient conditions.For example, such ambient conditions might include temperature oratmospheric pressure.

In embodiments of the invention, a refill tank 530 is utilized upon arefill station 500 so as to fill onboard gas tanks of containerassemblies. In embodiments, the refill tank 530 itself can be connectedto a further source of gas, such as a gas hose. In embodiments of theinvention, the refill tank 530, after gas therein has been depleted, cansimply be switched out with a full refill tank 530.

As described herein, illustrative gas or pneumatic arrangements areprovided in systems and methods of the invention. Other knownarrangements can be utilized in the invention such as known pipe or hosefittings, for example. Additionally, the refill station 500 is describedherein, illustratively, is being a single unitary base. However in otherembodiments of the invention, the refill station 500 can be separate,discrete units that are attached by hose or pipe, for example.

In accordance with some embodiments of the invention, a different buttoncan be provided on the container assembly or bottle for each of theadditives and for each of the gases. In other embodiments, a same buttoncan be used for additive and gas, with different touches resulting indifferent action being taken by the container assembly. For example, aquick tap on a button might result in a dispense of additive, where asto hold the button down results in a dispense of both additive and gas.A quick tap on a button might result in a dispense of gas, whereas tohold the button down results in a dispense of both additive and gas. Auser can vary an amount or degree that a beverage is carbonated. Inaccordance with one embodiment, a system of the disclosure can monitoran amount of liquid in the container assembly and limit or constrain aninput amount of gas based on such amount of liquid. Such can provide abenefit of precluding a beverage from being over carbonated. Asotherwise described herein, additive can be dispensed before gas. Gascan be dispensed before additive. Additive and gas can be dispensed atthe same time. The container assembly can output communicationsregarding any aspect of status of the container assembly.

It will be appreciated that features, elements and/or characteristicsdescribed with respect to one embodiment of the disclosure may bevariously used with other embodiments of the disclosure as may bedesired.

It will be appreciated that the effects of the present disclosure arenot limited to the above-mentioned effects, and other effects, which arenot mentioned herein, will be apparent to those in the art from thedisclosure and accompanying claims.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present disclosure have beendisclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the disclosureand accompanying claims.

It is appreciated that the various components of embodiments of thedisclosure may be made from any of a variety of materials including, forexample, plastic, plastic resin, nylon, composite material, foam,rubber, wood, metal, and/or ceramic, for example, or any other materialas may be desired.

A variety of production techniques may be used to make the apparatusesas described herein. For example, suitable injection molding and othermolding techniques and other manufacturing techniques might be utilized.Also, the various components of the apparatuses may be integrallyformed, as may be desired, in particular when using molding constructiontechniques. Also, the various components of the apparatuses may beformed in pieces and connected together in some manner, such as withsuitable adhesive and/or heat bonding.

The various apparatuses and components of the apparatuses, as describedherein, may be provided in various sizes and/or dimensions, as desired.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “on” another element or layer, the element or layer can bedirectly on another element or layer or intervening elements or layers.In contrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly on”another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layerspresent.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “onto” another element or layer, the element or layer can bedirectly on another element or layer or intervening elements or layers.

Examples include “attached onto”, secured onto”, and “provided onto”. Incontrast, when an element is referred to as being “directly onto”another element or layer, there are no intervening elements or layerspresent. As used herein, “onto” and “on to” have been usedinterchangeably.

It will be understood that when an element or layer is referred to asbeing “attached to” another element or layer, the element or layer canbe directly attached to the another element or layer or interveningelements or layers. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being“attached directly to” another element or layer, there are nointervening elements or layers present. It will be understood that suchrelationship also is to be understood with regard to: “secured to”versus “secured directly to”; “provided to” versus “provided directlyto”; and similar language.

As used herein, the term “and/or” includes any and all combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items.

It will be understood that, although the terms first, second, third,etc., may be used herein to describe various elements, components,regions, layers and/or sections, these elements, components, regions,layers and/or sections should not be limited by these terms. These termsare only used to distinguish one element, component, region, layer orsection from another region, layer or section. Thus, a first element,component, region, layer or section could be termed a second element,component, region, layer or section without departing from the teachingsof the present disclosure.

Spatially relative terms, such as “lower”, “upper”, “top”, “bottom”,“left”, “right” and the like, may be used herein for ease of descriptionto describe the relationship of one element or feature to anotherelement(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the drawing figures. It willbe understood that spatially relative terms are intended to encompassdifferent orientations of structures in use or operation, in addition tothe orientation depicted in the drawing figures. For example, if adevice in the drawing figures is turned over, elements described as“lower” relative to other elements or features would then be oriented“upper” relative the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplaryterm “lower” can encompass both an orientation of above and below. Thedevice may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at otherorientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein shouldbe interpreted accordingly.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particularembodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the disclosure.As used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended toinclude the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will be further understood that the terms “comprises”and/or “comprising,” when used in this specification, specify thepresence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements,and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of oneor more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,components, and/or groups thereof.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientificterms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It willbe further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly useddictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that isconsistent with their meaning in the context of the relevant art andwill not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unlessexpressly so defined herein.

Any reference in this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “example embodiment,” etc., means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of such phrases in various places in the specification arenot necessarily all referring to the same embodiment. Further, asotherwise noted herein, when a particular feature, structure, orcharacteristic is described in connection with any embodiment, it issubmitted that it is within the purview of one skilled in the art toeffect and/or use such feature, structure, or characteristic inconnection with other ones of the embodiments.

Embodiments are also intended to include or otherwise cover methods ofusing and methods of manufacturing any or all of the elements disclosedabove.

As otherwise described herein, it is appreciated that a feature of oneembodiment of the disclosure as described herein may be used inconjunction with features of one or more other embodiments as may bedesired.

As used herein, “data” and “information” have been used interchangeably.

Any motorized structure as described herein may utilize gears, linkages,sprocket with chain, or other known mechanical arrangement so as totransfer requisite motion and/or energy.

Hereinafter, further aspects of implementation of the systems andmethods of the disclosure will be described.

As described herein, at least some embodiments of the system of thedisclosure and various processes, of embodiments, are described as beingperformed by one or more computer processors. Such one or more computerprocessors may be in the form of a “processing machine,” i.e. a tangiblyembodied machine.

As used herein, the term “processing machine” is to be understood toinclude at least one processor that uses at least one memory. The atleast one memory stores a set of instructions. The instructions may beeither permanently or temporarily stored in the memory or memories ofthe processing machine. The processor executes the instructions that arestored in the memory or memories in order to process data.

The set of instructions may include various instructions that perform aparticular task or tasks, such as any of the processing as describedherein. Such a set of instructions for performing a particular task maybe characterized as a program, software program, code or simplysoftware.

As noted above, the processing machine, which may be constituted, forexample, by the particular system and/or systems described above,executes the instructions that are stored in the memory or memories toprocess data. This processing of data may be in response to commands bya user or users of the processing machine, in response to previousprocessing, in response to a request by another processing machineand/or any other input, for example.

As noted above, the machine used to implement the disclosure may be inthe form of a processing machine. The processing machine may alsoutilize (or be in the form of) any of a wide variety of othertechnologies including a special purpose computer, a computer systemincluding a microcomputer, mini-computer or mainframe for example, aprogrammed microprocessor, a micro-controller, a peripheral integratedcircuit element, a CSIC (Consumer Specific Integrated Circuit) or ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit) or other integrated circuit, alogic circuit, a digital signal processor, a programmable logic devicesuch as a FPGA, PLD, PLA or PAL, or any other device or arrangement ofdevices that is capable of implementing the steps of the processes ofthe disclosure.

The processing machine used to implement the invention may utilize asuitable operating system. Thus, embodiments of the disclosure mayinclude a processing machine running the Windows 10 operating system,the Windows 8 operating system, Microsoft Windows™ Vista™ operatingsystem, the Microsoft Windows™ XP™ operating system, the MicrosoftWindows™ NT™ operating system, the Windows™ 2000 operating system, theUnix operating system, the Linux operating system, the Xenix operatingsystem, the IBM AIX™ operating system, the Hewlett-Packard UX™ operatingsystem, the Novell Netware™ operating system, the Sun MicrosystemsSolaris™ operating system, the OS/2™ operating system, the BeOS™operating system, the Macintosh operating system, the Apache operatingsystem, an OpenStep™ operating system or another operating system orplatform.

It is appreciated that in order to practice the method of the disclosureas described above, it is not necessary that the processors and/or thememories of the processing machine be physically located in the samegeographical place. That is, each of the processors and the memoriesused by the processing machine may be located in geographically distinctlocations and connected so as to communicate in any suitable manner.Additionally, it is appreciated that each of the processor and/or thememory may be composed of different physical pieces of equipment.Accordingly, it is not necessary that the processor be one single pieceof equipment in one location and that the memory be another single pieceof equipment in another location. That is, it is contemplated that theprocessor may be two pieces of equipment in two different physicallocations. The two distinct pieces of equipment may be connected in anysuitable manner. Additionally, the memory may include two or moreportions of memory in two or more physical locations.

To explain further, processing is described above is performed byvarious components and various memories. However, it is appreciated thatthe processing performed by two distinct components as described abovemay, in accordance with a further embodiment of the disclosure, beperformed by a single component. Further, the processing performed byone distinct component as described above may be performed by twodistinct components. In a similar manner, the memory storage performedby two distinct memory portions as described above may, in accordancewith a further embodiment of the disclosure, be performed by a singlememory portion. Further, the memory storage performed by one distinctmemory portion as described above may be performed by two memoryportions.

Further, as also described above, various technologies may be used toprovide communication between the various processors and/or memories, aswell as to allow the processors and/or the memories of the disclosure tocommunicate with any other entity; i.e., so as to obtain furtherinstructions or to access and use remote memory stores, for example.Such technologies used to provide such communication might include anetwork, the Internet, Intranet, Extranet, LAN, an Ethernet, or anyclient server system that provides communication, for example. Suchcommunications technologies may use any suitable protocol such asTCP/IP, UDP, or OSI, for example.

As described above, a set of instructions is used in the processing ofthe invention on a processing machine, for example. The set ofinstructions may be in the form of a program or software. The softwaremay be in the form of system software or application software, forexample. The software might also be in the form of a collection ofseparate programs, a program module within a larger program, or aportion of a program module, for example. The software used might alsoinclude modular programming in the form of object oriented programming.The software tells the processing machine what to do with the data beingprocessed.

Further, it is appreciated that the instructions or set of instructionsused in the implementation and operation of the invention may be in asuitable form such that the processing machine may read theinstructions. For example, the instructions that form a program may bein the form of a suitable programming language, which is converted tomachine language or object code to allow the processor or processors toread the instructions. That is, written lines of programming code orsource code, in a particular programming language, are converted tomachine language using a compiler, assembler or interpreter. The machinelanguage is binary coded machine instructions that are specific to aparticular type of processing machine, i.e., to a particular type ofcomputer, for example. The computer understands the machine language.

A suitable programming language may be used in accordance with thevarious embodiments of the disclosure. Illustratively, the programminglanguage used may include assembly language, Ada, APL, Basic, C, C++,COBOL, dBase, Forth, Fortran, Java, Modula-2, Pascal, Prolog, REXX,Visual Basic, and/or JavaScript, for example. Further, it is notnecessary that a single type of instructions or single programminglanguage be utilized in conjunction with the operation of the systemsand methods of the disclosure. Rather, any number of differentprogramming languages may be utilized as is necessary or desirable.

Also, the instructions and/or data used in the practice of the inventionmay utilize any compression or encryption technique or algorithm, as maybe desired. An encryption module might be used to encrypt data. Further,files or other data may be decrypted using a suitable decryption module,for example.

As described above, the invention may illustratively be embodied in theform of a processing machine, including a computer or computer system,for example, that includes at least one memory. It is to be appreciatedthat the set of instructions, i.e., the software for example, thatenables the computer operating system to perform the operationsdescribed above may be contained on any of a wide variety of media ormedium, as desired. Further, the data that is processed by the set ofinstructions might also be contained on any of a wide variety of mediaor medium. That is, the particular medium, i.e., the memory in theprocessing machine, utilized to hold the set of instructions and/or thedata used in the invention may take on any of a variety of physicalforms or transmissions, for example. Illustratively, as also describedabove, the medium may be in the form of paper, paper transparencies, acompact disk, a DVD, an integrated circuit, a hard disk, a floppy disk,an optical disk, a magnetic tape, a RAM, a ROM, a PROM, a EPROM, a wire,a cable, a fiber, communications channel, a satellite transmissions orother remote transmission, as well as any other medium or source of datathat may be read by the processors of the disclosure.

Further, the memory or memories used in the processing machine thatimplements the invention may be in any of a wide variety of forms toallow the memory to hold instructions, data, or other information, as isdesired. Thus, the memory might be in the form of a database to holddata. The database might use any desired arrangement of files such as aflat file arrangement or a relational database arrangement, for example.

In the systems and methods of the disclosure, a variety of “userinterfaces” may be utilized to allow a user to interface with theprocessing machine or machines that are used to implement the invention.As used herein, a user interface includes any hardware, software, orcombination of hardware and software used by the processing machine thatallows a user to interact with the processing machine. A user interfacemay be in the form of a dialogue screen for example. A user interfacemay also include any of a mouse, touch screen, keyboard, voice reader,voice recognizer, dialogue screen, menu box, list, checkbox, toggleswitch, a pushbutton or any other device that allows a user to receiveinformation regarding the operation of the processing machine as itprocesses a set of instructions and/or provide the processing machinewith information. Accordingly, the user interface is any device thatprovides communication between a user and a processing machine. Theinformation provided by the user to the processing machine through theuser interface may be in the form of a command, a selection of data, orsome other input, for example.

As discussed above, a user interface is utilized by the processingmachine that performs a set of instructions such that the processingmachine processes data for a user. The user interface is typically usedby the processing machine for interacting with a user either to conveyinformation or receive information from the user. However, it should beappreciated that in accordance with some embodiments of the systems andmethods of the disclosure, it is not necessary that a human useractually interact with a user interface used by the processing machineof the disclosure. Rather, it is also contemplated that the userinterface of the invention might interact, i.e., convey and receiveinformation, with another processing machine, rather than a human user.Accordingly, the other processing machine might be characterized as auser. Further, it is contemplated that a user interface utilized in thesystems and methods of the disclosure may interact partially withanother processing machine or processing machines, while alsointeracting partially with a human user.

It will be readily understood by those persons skilled in the art thatthe present disclosure is susceptible to broad utility and application.Many embodiments and adaptations of the present disclosure other thanthose herein described, as well as many variations, modifications andequivalent arrangements, will be apparent from or reasonably suggestedby the present disclosure and foregoing description thereof, withoutdeparting from the substance or scope of the disclosure.

Accordingly, while the present disclosure has been described here indetail in relation to its exemplary embodiments, it is to be understoodthat this disclosure is only illustrative and exemplary of the presentinvention and is made to provide an enabling disclosure of theinvention. Accordingly, the foregoing disclosure is not intended to beconstrued or to limit the present invention or otherwise to exclude anyother such embodiments, adaptations, variations, modifications andequivalent arrangements.

1-20. (canceled)
 21. A container assembly comprising: a container havinga known storage capacity for storing a liquid; an additive dispensingassembly, the additive dispensing assembly dispensing variable, non-zeroquantities of one or more additives into the liquid stored in thecontainer; one or more vessels that each contain one of the additives,of the one or more additives, to be dispensed into the liquid; and a gasdispensing assembly, the gas dispensing assembly releasing a gas intothe liquid stored in the container, and the gas dispensing assemblyincluding: an onboard gas source; an assembly; and a gas outlet, and theassembly controlling flow of gas from the onboard gas source, throughthe assembly, and to the gas outlet so as to output the gas into theliquid; and wherein the assembly, to perform the controlling the flow ofgas, is movable between: an open position, in which flow of gas isallowed to flow from the onboard gas source to the gas outlet; and aclosed position in which the flow of gas is prevented to flow from theonboard gas source to the gas outlet; and the container assembly furtherincluding a computer processor that controls both (a) the assembly tomodulate the flow of gas so as to control an amount of gas that is inputinto the liquid in a gas dispense event, and (b) the additive dispensingassembly.
 22. The container assembly of claim 21, the gas dispensingassembly including a valve intake pipe that provides gas flow from theonboard gas source to the assembly and a valve outlet pipe that providesgas flow from the assembly to the gas outlet.
 23. The container assemblyof claim 21, the gas outlet including a one-way valve, and the one-wayvalve prevents the liquid from flowing into the gas dispensing assembly.24. The container assembly of claim 23, the container assembly furtherincluding a dispense platform that forms a lower portion of thecontainer, and the gas one-way valve is positioned in the dispenseplatform.
 25. The container assembly of claim 23, the container assemblyfurther including a dispense platform that forms a lower portion of thecontainer, and the gas one-way valve is positioned in a raised spout soas to be positioned above the dispense platform.
 26. The containerassembly of claim 23, the additive dispensing assembly including anadditive one-way valve through which additive is dispensed, from one ofthe vessels, into the liquid, and the container assembly furtherincluding a dispense platform at a lower portion of the container, andwherein both the additive one-way valve and the gas one-way arepositioned in the dispense platform.
 27. The container assembly of claim21, the gas dispensing assembly including at least one selected from thegroup consisting of an electro-mechanical assembly, a motor and a drivemotor, and the gas dispensing assembly mechanically connected to theassembly so as to variably move the assembly between the open positionand the closed position.
 28. The container assembly of claim 27, thedrive motor mechanically connected to the assembly through a gear box.29. The container assembly of claim 27, the assembly includes a rotatingvalve insert that rotates, in a valve housing, to provide the openposition and the closed position.
 30. The container assembly of claim27, the computer processor controls the assembly to modulate the flow ofgas based on input.
 31. The container assembly of claim 30, the gas isCO2, and the amount of gas that is input, into the liquid in the gasdispense event, results in variance in the amount of CO2 contained inthe liquid.
 32. The container assembly of claim 30, the computerprocessor configured to dispense gas at a predetermined time lapse afterdispensing of one of the additives, of the one or more additives. 33.The container assembly of claim 21, the onboard gas source providedadjacent a housing that houses one of the vessels; and the containerassembly further including a lower support platform and a bottom supportplatform, and the onboard gas source positioned between the lowersupport platform and the bottom support platform, and the housingpositioned between the lower support platform and the bottom supportplatform.
 34. The container assembly of claim 33, wherein both theonboard gas source and the housing are in the shape of a cylinder,between the lower support platform and the bottom support platform. 35.The container assembly of claim 21, the gas source is a gas tank, andthe gas dispensing assembly further including a gas intake assemblyassociated with the onboard gas source, and the gas intake assemblyincluding a valve that provides for the onboard gas source to berefilled from an external gas source.
 36. The container assembly ofclaim 35, the valve is a one-way valve, and an inlet to the onboard gassource is positioned at a bottom of the container assembly.
 37. Thecontainer assembly of claim 35, the gas intake assembly including anengagement collar for positioning the container assembly on a refillstation, and the engagement collar provided with at least one engagementmechanism for securing the container assembly to the refill station. 38.The container assembly of claim 37, the at least one engagementmechanism is at least one selected from the group consisting of (a) athreaded arrangement and (b) a twist-lock coupling; and the valve is apoppet valve that is openable in conjunction with the container assemblybeing positioned upon the refill station.
 39. The container assembly ofclaim 21, the gas dispensing assembly including a manual assembly, whichis mechanically connected to the assembly so as to variably move theassembly between the open position and the closed position.